Health Policy and Advocacy

A new bill introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) last week could be considered for inclusion in a year-end package during the lame duck session: The framework is more expansive than previous proposals and could resemble suggestions from the June 2023 MedPAC report for services rendered at hospital outpatient departments, ambulatory surgical centers, and freestanding physician offices, although experts say it will be challenging to pass the bill this year. Read more here and here.

Representative Greg Murphy (NC-03) has introduced a bill with bipartisan support that would boost physician pay and block cuts to the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS): The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act would counteract a planned 2.8 percent cut to the CY2025 PFS conversion factor for one year and include a 1.93 percent pay increase, raising current rates by 4.73 percent. Read more.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (MA-01), and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) have sent a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure seeking enhanced oversight of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans: The leaders ask Administrator Brooks-LaSure to “use every regulatory, oversight, and enforcement tool at the agency’s disposal” to improve MA plans and rein in fraud and abuse. Read the letter here.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously this week to narrow the criteria groups must meet to qualify for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status: In the ruling, the judges establish that groups cannot qualify for tax-exempt status under 501(c)(4) if they have a substantial nonexempt purpose, setting a stricter standard than IRS regulations. Read more.