Busy Week for HHS Amid Looming Shutdown

Busy Week for HHS Amid Looming Shutdown

The looming federal shutdown was narrowly avoided this weekend after President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion spending package on Saturday. This package includes funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal health programs.

Perhaps not surprising is that Senate negotiations on Friday were heated – and the Friday midnight deadline was technically missed, though not by much. Tension between members of Congress was high throughout the day, with one Republican Senator citing “too much sugar and bad pizza” as the reason for waiting past the eleventh hour to pass legislation. The government is now finally funded through the end of September, so we get a bit of a reprieve from hearing more reports on would-be shutdowns for a bit!

While its funding was being hotly debated, the HHS Office for Civil Rights quietly updated their 2022 policy that made the use of third-party tracking technology a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violation when used by hospitals. As you may remember, hospitals took issue with this policy that would forbid hospital webpages from using analytic tools from companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta that track users on public-facing pages. While HHS generally reiterated most of the policy, it did alter its policy for a hospital’s public web pages. The new guidance states that not all trackers that link a device’s IP address with a visit to a webpage on specific health conditions count as a HIPAA violation, for example, a student looking up oncology information for a research project. 

The example HHS provided for an action that remains a violation is an individual looking up a hospital’s oncology services as a second opinion for treatment options for their brain tumor. But the updated policy will likely not lessen hospitals’ opposition. As one critic noted, whether something is a violation seems to be based on the website user’s intent. And the burden of proof is on the hospital to figure that out. It remains to be seen what if any impact this updated guidance will have on the American Hospital Association’s (AHA’s) lawsuit against HHS for this policy.

HHS also received two important letters from members of Congress this week. In one letter, bipartisan lawmakers highlighted three main concerns that remain with the No Surprises Act (NSA): the amount of oversight of the Qualifying Payment Amount in the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, shrinking provider networks, and late payments from insurers. 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee also sent a letter to HHS questioning its role in the recent Change Healthcare cyberattack, accusing the agency of “inadequate” action and delayed reporting to Congress. The Committee listed 11 questions for HHS to answer. Interestingly, two of those questions revolved around the NSA: one about what HHS is doing to ensure that the winning parties receive payments by entities affected by the attack, and one inquiring about whether HHS should provide an extension for the IDR process for providers and payors affected by the attack. The HHS response is due by April 3, so we will be eagerly awaiting their input on how this could affect the IDR process.

HHS had a busy week amid the turmoil in Washington. As my colleagues and I have reported, it is highly unlikely that Congress will pass any sweeping healthcare legislation in an election year. Indeed, several major bipartisan health bills were excluded from the government funding bill passed this weekend.

However, we can expect to see more of what we saw this week: critical letters from Congress, updated agency guidance, and bipartisan calls for action. There’s certainly never a dull day around here, even in an election year!

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Cate Brantley, JD

Cate Brantley is a Senior Government Affairs Liaison for Zelis. She has over 9 years of experience in both the public and private sector. Cate is licensed to practice law in the state of Oklahoma.

Related Stories

Farewell My Friends and Colleagues

Farewell My Friends and Colleagues

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Erica Remer was, for nearly seven years, the cohost with Chuck Buck on Talk Ten Tuesday and a member of the ICD10monitor

Read More

Leave a Reply

Please log in to your account to comment on this article.

Featured Webcasts

Decoding 2025 OPPS Charge Capture and Coding Complexities: Strategies for Success

Decoding 2025 OPPS Charge Capture and Coding Complexities: Strategies for Success

Prepare your organization for the 2025 OPPS updates with expert insights from Tiffani Bouchard, CCS, CRCR, a Revenue Integrity Professional with over 30 years of experience. This webcast will address critical challenges in charge capture and coding, providing clarity on APC policies, C-APC packaging, exclusions, and payer-specific requirements. Attendees will learn actionable strategies to ensure compliance, optimize reimbursement, and mitigate risks of claim denials. Gain the knowledge needed to implement updates effectively, educate your team, and maintain seamless revenue cycle operations in the face of evolving OPPS complexities.

January 29, 2025
Enhancing Outcomes with CDI-Coding-Quality Collaboration in Acute Care Hospitals

Enhancing Outcomes with CDI-Coding-Quality Collaboration in Acute Care Hospitals

Join Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, as she presents effective strategies to strengthen collaboration between CDI, coding, and quality departments in acute care hospitals. Angela will also share guidance on implementing cross-departmental meetings, using shared KPIs, and engaging leadership to foster a culture of collaboration. Attendees will gain actionable tools to optimize documentation accuracy, elevate quality metrics, and drive a unified approach to healthcare goals, ultimately enhancing both patient outcomes and organizational performance.

November 21, 2024
Comprehensive Inpatient Clinical Documentation Integrity: From Foundations to Advanced Strategies

Comprehensive Outpatient Clinical Documentation Integrity: From Foundations to Advanced Strategies

Optimize your outpatient clinical documentation and gain comprehensive knowledge from foundational practices to advanced technologies, ensuring improved patient care and organizational and financial success. This webcast bundle provides a holistic approach to outpatient CDI, empowering you to implement best practices from the ground up and leverage advanced strategies for superior results. You will gain actionable insights to improve documentation quality, patient care, compliance, and financial outcomes.

September 5, 2024

Trending News

Featured Webcasts

Navigating the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: Key Changes and Strategies for Success

Navigating the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: Key Changes and Strategies for Success

The 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule brings significant changes to payment rates, coverage, and coding for physician services, impacting practices nationwide. Join Stanley Nachimson, MS., as he provides a comprehensive guide to understanding these updates, offering actionable insights on new Medicare-covered services, revised coding rules, and payment policies effective January 1. Learn how to adapt your practices to maintain compliance, maximize reimbursement, and plan for revenue in 2025. Whether you’re a physician, coder, or financial staff member, this session equips you with the tools to navigate Medicare’s evolving requirements confidently and efficiently.

January 21, 2025
Patient Notifications and Rights: What You Need to Know

Patient Notifications and Rights: What You Need to Know

Dr. Ronald Hirsch provides critical details on the new Medicare Appeal Process for Status Changes for patients whose status changes during their hospital stay. He also delves into other scenarios of hospital patients receiving custodial care or medically unnecessary services where patient notifications may be needed along with the processes necessary to ensure compliance with state and federal guidance.

December 5, 2024
Navigating the No Surprises Act & Price Transparency: Essential Insights for Compliance

Navigating the No Surprises Act & Price Transparency: Essential Insights for Compliance

Healthcare organizations face complex regulatory requirements under the No Surprises Act and Price Transparency rules. These policies mandate extensive fee disclosures across settings, and confusion is widespread—many hospitals remain unaware they must post every contracted rate. Non-compliance could lead to costly penalties, financial loss, and legal risks.  Join David M. Glaser Esq. as he shows you how to navigate these regulations effectively.

November 19, 2024
Post Operative Pain Blocks: Guidelines, Documentation, and Billing to Protect Your Facility

Post Operative Pain Blocks: Guidelines, Documentation, and Billing to Protect Your Facility

Protect your facility from unwanted audits! Join Becky Jacobsen, BSN, RN, MBS, CCS-P, CPC, CPEDC, CBCS, CEMC, and take a deep dive into both the CMS and AMA guidelines for reporting post operative pain blocks. You’ll learn how to determine if the nerve block is separately codable with real life examples for better understanding. Becky will also cover how to evaluate whether documentation supports medical necessity, offer recommendations for stronger documentation practices, and provide guidance on educating providers about documentation requirements. She’ll include a discussion of appropriate modifier and diagnosis coding assignment so that you can be confident that your billing of post operative pain blocks is fully supported and compliant.

October 24, 2024

Trending News

Happy National Doctor’s Day! Learn how to get a complimentary webcast on ‘Decoding Social Admissions’ as a token of our heartfelt appreciation! Click here to learn more →

CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 2 with code CYBER24