CMS recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on ways to reduce the regulatory burdens associated with the the Stark Laws governing physician self-referrals. Interested parties should submit comments by August 24.
While the request is quite broad, the RFI emphasizes application of the Stark Laws to alternative payment models and other novel financial arrangements. Think non-traditional Medicare plans. For maximum impact, suppliers should ensure their comments address CMS’s specific concerns: does the law impede beneficiary access to quality care or encourage waste?
Of the 100+ comments received at the time of writing, nearly half discuss the Stark implications on sleep medicine. It is clear the physician community is extremely interested in providing PAPs and other DME items.
Adding doctors to the mix might infuse the market with new providers in the any-willing-provider era and perhaps reduce coordination of care burdens temporarily. Unsustainable reimbursement rates, however, impact physician-providers just as negatively and, in doing so, will grossly exacerbate conflict-of-interest pressures. Furthermore, physicians entering and exiting the market rapidly will only create more access problems for beneficiaries. Piling eligible providers on a reimbursement model that is flawed only magnifies the problem.
MiraVista believes, the progression of competitive bidding and fee schedule reductions are the cause of the current access issues … not Stark.
If you have any questions, give us a shout.
SOURCE LINKS
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-06-25/pdf/2018-13529.pdf
While the request is quite broad, the RFI emphasizes application of the Stark Laws to alternative payment models and other novel financial arrangements. Think non-traditional Medicare plans. For maximum impact, suppliers should ensure their comments address CMS’s specific concerns: does the law impede beneficiary access to quality care or encourage waste?
Of the 100+ comments received at the time of writing, nearly half discuss the Stark implications on sleep medicine. It is clear the physician community is extremely interested in providing PAPs and other DME items.
Adding doctors to the mix might infuse the market with new providers in the any-willing-provider era and perhaps reduce coordination of care burdens temporarily. Unsustainable reimbursement rates, however, impact physician-providers just as negatively and, in doing so, will grossly exacerbate conflict-of-interest pressures. Furthermore, physicians entering and exiting the market rapidly will only create more access problems for beneficiaries. Piling eligible providers on a reimbursement model that is flawed only magnifies the problem.
MiraVista believes, the progression of competitive bidding and fee schedule reductions are the cause of the current access issues … not Stark.
If you have any questions, give us a shout.
SOURCE LINKS
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-06-25/pdf/2018-13529.pdf
RSS Feed