WSHA Provides Optum/Change Healthcare Cyber Attack Resource Page

WSHA is communicating with elected officials and state agencies about the impacts of the disruptions due to the Change Healthcare cyber-attack and the critical needs of Washington’s  hospitals and the patients we serve. As a resource to members, WSHA has created a resource page with links to updates from federal and state agencies and from individual health insurers. We are committed to keeping members informed and providing resources to help mitigate any potential impact on patient care and the surrounding workflow. This page will be continually updated to reflect further developments and new information. 

Access the Resource Page here. (Caitlin Stafford, caitlins@wsha.org)

CMS Provides information on FFS Medicare Accelerated Payments

In response to the disruption to claims submission and payment caused by the Change Healthcare situation, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) instructed Medicare Administrative Contractors to implement an accelerated payment program. Hospitals and providers can receive advance lump sum payment based on their historical Medicare claim payment volumes. Noridian is required to decide on applications within five business days of their submission. Funds advanced will be recouped later from paid claims. This program benefits hospitals and providers in cases where a large proportion of their Medicare fee-for-service payments have been disrupted due to the Change Healthcare issues. This program is for Medicare fee-for-service only and does not apply to Medicare Advantage or other payors.
 
Providers should use the request for Change Healthcare/Optum payment disruption (CHOPD) Accelerated Payment to Part A Providers and Advance Payments to part B Suppliers [DOCX] template to submit a request. The template must be initialed for all certification of facts and signed by the provider’s authorized official that is legally able to make financial commitments and assume financial obligations on behalf of the provider/supplier. Completed CHOPD Accelerated/Advance Payment request should be sent to  JF-reimb@noridian.com or faxed to 701-277-6572.
 
For additional information please refer to CMS Fact Sheet Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) Accelerated Payments to Part A Providers and Advance Payments to Part B Suppliers [PDF] and a fact sheet of Frequently Asked Questions.
 
If you have questions for WSHA, please contact Andrew Busz at andrewb@wsha.org.  Please contact Noridian directly if you have questions regarding the application or the conditions. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org).

WSHA and AWPHD Report on 2023 Lobbying Expenses for Medicare Cost Reports

The Medicare Provider Reimbursement Manual requires hospitals to adjust their Medicare cost reports to eliminate the portion of association dues related to lobbying expenses. Please forward this information to the people in your organization responsible for completing and submitting Medicare cost reports.
 
• The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) has determined 29.4 percent of its membership dues were expended in activities that meet the Medicare definition of lobbying for calendar year 2023. For entities that must separately calculate federal lobbying expenditures, 3.4 percent of WSHA membership dues were related to federal lobbying expenditures.
 
• For the Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts (AWPHD), 13.1 percent of its membership dues were expended in activities that meet the Medicare definition of lobbying for calendar year 2023.
 
If you have questions, please contact Andrew Busz at andrewb@wsha.org or (206) 216-2533.

AHA to Host Webinar on Hospital Price Transparency Machine-readable Format Requirements

The American Hospital Association (AHA) will host a members-only webinar April 10 at 12:00 p.m. to review new formatting for machine-readable files required under the CMS outpatient rule. A summary of the changes is here. Changes to formatting and content are effective July 1, 2024. Advance registration for the webinar is required here. 
 
At the webinar, Terri Postma, medical officer and senior advisor at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, will review the new machine-readable format requirements, demonstrate how to navigate the GitHub repository to find the standard formats and implementation guidance, and present real-world examples of how to encode data for different contracting practices in the standard formats. Webinar participants can submit advance questions for the webinar’s Q&A segment to Ariel Levin at the AHA at alevin@aha.org.

US Senate Passes Legislation to Delay and Reduce Health Care Cuts

On March 8, the U.S. Senate voted 75-22 to pass a package of six appropriations bills funding certain federal agencies through fiscal year (FY) 2024. The legislation was passed in the House March 6 and signed by President Biden March 9. Highlights of the legislation:

  • Eliminates Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts for FY 2024 and delays FY 2025 DSH cuts to Jan. 1, 2025
  • Extends the Medicare-dependent hospital and enhanced low-volume hospital programs through December 2024
  • Reduces a  physician payment cut that began Jan. 1 from 3.34% to 2.93% through December 31, 2024
  • Extends the Community Health Centers, National Health Service Corps, and Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education programs through December. 

Congress expects to release and vote on the six other appropriations bills for FY 2024 before they expire March 22, including legislation funding Department of Health and Human Services programs. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)