Recent Releases and Announcements
CMS Reveals New Medicare Card Design
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gave the public its first look at the newly designed Medicare card . The new Medicare card contains a unique, randomly-assigned number that replaces the current Social Security-based number.
CMS will begin mailing the new cards to people with Medicare benefits in April 2018 to meet the statutory deadline for replacing all existing Medicare cards by April 2019. In addition to today’s announcement, people with Medicare will also be able to see the design of the new Medicare card in the 2018 Medicare & You Handbook. The handbooks are being mailed and will arrive throughout September.
“The goal of the initiative to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards is to help prevent fraud, combat identify theft, and safeguard taxpayer dollars,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “We’re very excited to share the new design.”
CMS has assigned all people with Medicare benefits a new, unique Medicare number, which contains a combination of numbers and uppercase letters. People with Medicare will receive a new Medicare card in the mail, and will be instructed to safely and securely destroy their current Medicare card and keep their new Medicare number confidential. Issuance of the new number will not change benefits that people with Medicare receive.
Healthcare providers and people with Medicare will be able to use secure look-up tools that will allow quick access to the new Medicare numbers when needed. There will also be a 21-month transition period where doctors, healthcare providers, and suppliers will be able to use either their current SSN-based Medicare Number or their new, unique Medicare number, to ease the transition.
This initiative takes important steps towards protecting the identities of people with Medicare. CMS is also working with healthcare providers to answer their questions and ensure that they have the information they need to make a successful transition to the new Medicare number. For more information, please visit: www.cms.gov/newcard
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Innovation Center New Direction
The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Innovation (CMMI) is looking to revamp its priorities for the new administration and has issued an informal Request for Information seeking YOUR input. They intend to chart “a new direction to promote patient-centered care and test market-driven reforms that empower beneficiaries as consumers, provide price transparency, increase choices and competition to drive quality, reduce costs, and improve outcomes. “
The Innovation Center welcomes stakeholder input on the ideas on additional ideas and concepts, and on the future direction of the Innovation Center.
CMMI has laid out eight priority areas in which they intend to test models. They are:
- Increased participation in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs);
- Consumer-Directed Care & Market-Based Innovation Models;
- Physician Specialty Models;
- Prescription Drug Models;
- Medicare Advantage (MA) Innovation Models;
- State-Based and Local Innovation, including Medicaid-focused Models;
- Mental and Behavioral Health Models; and
- Program Integrity.
The RFI is leaves considerable opportunity for stakeholders to offer your insights as to what CMMI should be prioritizing and testing.
So if, for example, you want to make sure that older adults and people with disabilities are prioritized in CMMI’s work or have specific models in mind for states or providers to address research needs or innovative models for older adults and/or people with disabilities, this is your opportunity to suggest them to CMMI.
Instructions for Commenting:
To be assured consideration, please submit comments online or by email to CMMI_NewDirection@cms.hhs.gov by 11:59 p.m. EST November 20, 2017.
Please note: since this is an informal Request For Information, this will not be published in the Federal Register and your comments won’t be posted on www.regulations.gov. So if you want ACL, or the broader public to know what you suggest to CMMI it will be up to you to share your comments.
Background and details on the RFI
Dementia Summit
A National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers to be held October 16 and 17 at the National Institutes of Health will focus on the research needed to develop, evaluate, implement, and disseminate comprehensive care, services, and support for people with dementia, their families, and other caregivers. Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia affects about 5 million Americans, including 10% of Medicare-only and 17% of dual eligible beneficiaries.
The meeting is being coordinated by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation as part of HHS activities under the National Alzheimer’s Project Act and the HHS Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services. The steering committee included people from public and private sector organizations, as well as staff from federal agencies including CMS. The Summit has been supported in large part by the private sector through donations to the Foundation for the NIH, as well as by funding from the HHS Office of Women’s Health.
Registration for attending the Summit in person has reached capacity. But you can still take part. We invite you to sign up for the live videocast or add your name to the in-person waitlist .
MAP Medicaid Adult and Child Workgroups – Call for Nominations
NQF’s Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) will convene two multi-stakeholder workgroups to provide guidance to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on metrics to improve healthcare quality for the nation’s Medicaid population. These efforts continue NQF’s foundational work to help the federal government improve Medicaid services using standardized performance measures that allow for state-to-state comparisons.
Medicaid Adult Workgroup
The Medicaid Adult Workgroup is convened to review measures in the core set of health care quality measures for Medicaid-eligible adults (Adult Core Set) and identify ways in which the Core Set can be strengthened to improve quality, reduce unnecessary measure reporting burden, and foster more unified use across states.
Medicaid Child Workgroup
The Medicaid Child Workgroup is convened to review measures in the core set of health care quality measures for children enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP (Child Core Set) and identify ways in which the Core Set can be strengthened to improve quality, reduce unnecessary measure reporting burden, and foster more unified use across states.
You do not need to be a NQF Member to join these workgroups. Additional information on how to submit a nomination .
Nominations Due By Monday, October 16, 2017 6:00 PM ET
Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP)
Comment Period: Medicaid IAP Quality Measures (Due October 5, 2017)
In fall 2015, CMS’s Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) kicked off a three-year measurement development contract with Mathematica Policy Research, the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, and the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services’ Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group. The IAP portion of the contract entails the development or refinement of a small number of measures in key gap areas related to the IAP program areas.
IAP is seeking public comment on a quality measure concept currently under development. The measure concept is Self-Direction of Services and Supports among People Receiving LTSS through Managed Care Organizations.
- Anticipated comment period: Sept 14th, 2017- Oct 5th, 2017
- Submit comments to HCBSQualMeasures@mathematica-mpr.com
Learn more about these measures (visit the zip files in the Download section on this web page)
Medicaid Value-Based Payment Approaches and Key Design Considerations National Learning Webinar (October 5, 2017)
To assist Medicaid and CHIP agencies, CMS’s Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) will host a state learning webinar on Thursday, October 5, 2017 from 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET on Medicaid value-based payment (VBP) approaches, including key considerations when selecting and designing a VBP approach. The webinar will:
- Review the goals of VBP strategies and the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network’s Alternative Payment Models Framework.
- Detail common Medicaid VBP approaches, such as pay for performance, bundled payments, shared savings/shared risk approaches, and global payments.
- Outline design elements and factors for consideration, such as measure selection, risk adjustment, and attribution, before implementing an approach.
- Describe features of and considerations for implementing VBP in Medicaid managed care programs.
This is the first webinar of a series of VBP-focused national learning webinars the Medicaid IAP is hosting in October/November. Subsequent webinars will build off the concepts shared during this first webinar, but you do not need to join the first one to participate in the others. Please save the date and be on the look-out for more information about the others:
- Medicaid Value-Based Payments for Children’s Oral Health - October 19th from 2:00-3:00 pm ET
- Medicaid Value-Based Payments for Substance Use Disorders - October 26th, 2:00-3:30 pm ET
- Medicaid Value-Based Payments for Maternal and Infant Health - November 2nd, 2:00-3:00 pm ET
Register Now: Improving the Quality of Medicaid Encounter Data National Learning Webinar (October 12, 2017)
To assist Medicaid and CHIP agencies with their data analytic needs, CMS’s Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) will host a state learning webinar on Thursday, October 12th from 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET on improving the quality of Medicaid encounter data. In this interactive webinar, states will learn about approaches to improving their encounter data.
Presenters will share different perspectives on improving the quality of encounter data. A guest speaker from the state of Minnesota will discuss their Medicaid managed care structure data flow and their approaches to quality assurance, benchmarking, and timely data feedback. Additionally, a representative from the National Association of Health Data Organizations will discuss best practices in data collection, analytics, and output reports for encounter data, as well as the use of shared or public data to improve results.
Upcoming Calls and Webinars
MACPro 2017 Quality Measures Submissions: State In-System Demonstration
Please join us for an upcoming MACPro system training. This session will walk state users through the process of submitting Child, Adult, and Maternal and Infant Health Quality Measures data in MACPro, as well as highlight changes implemented for the 2017 reporting period.
Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2017 12 – 4 PM EST, 9 AM – 1 PM PST
Purpose: Who Should Attend: State staff involved with collecting, calculating, and the submission of data for the Child, Adult, and Maternal and Infant Health Quality Measures in MACPro.
Webinar and dial-in information is below.
- Go to the webinar
- Enter your name and email address
- Enter the session password: This session does not require a password
- Click “Join Now”
- Follow the instructions that appear on your screen
We encourage you to select the option in the webinar to have the system call you. Alternatively, you may choose to dial in:
- Dial (toll-free): 1-844-396-8222
- Follow the instructions you hear on the phone
- Your WebEx Meeting Number: 902 173 489
Preventing Adverse Drug Events (ADEs)
Thursday, September 28 |2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET
Join the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) on Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. ET for an educational webinar about reducing the rates of adverse drug events (ADEs).
ADEs are injuries caused by medical interventions related to a pharmaceutical drug. They include medication errors, adverse drug reactions, allergic reactions, and overdoses. Two out of 3 ADEs are related to 3 specific types of drugs: opioids, anticoagulants, and diabetes agents.
Federal health agencies are taking steps to reduce patient harms from ADEs with the National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention (ADE Action Plan). Find out more about the ADE Action Plan .
During this webinar, we’ll:
- Explain how and why the ADE Action Plan was created
- Provide a look at 2020 targets and measures
- Discuss inpatient and outpatient data collection
- Describe Federal Interagency Workgroup (FIW) strategies for addressing ADEs caused by each type of drug (opioids, anticoagulants, and diabetes agents)
- Introduce new quality payment incentives from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)