Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2019; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Quality Payment Program; Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program; Quality Payment Program-Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstance Policy for the 2019 MIPS Payment Year; Provisions From the Medicare Shared Savings Program-Accountable Care Organizations-Pathways to Success; and Expanding the Use of Telehealth Services for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Under the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention That Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act
medicare · Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services · Rule · Published 2018-11-23 · Effective 2019-01-01 · 83 FR 59452
Document
Document number
2018-24170
Federal Register citation
83 FR 59452
CFR reference
42 CFR 405
Type
Rule
Action
Final rules and interim final rule.
Category
medicare
Sub-agency
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Publication date
2018-11-23
Effective date
2019-01-01
HHS docket
CMS-1693-F, CMS-1693-IFC, CMS-5522-F3, and CMS-1701-F
Abstract
This major final rule addresses changes to the Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) and other Medicare Part B payment policies to ensure that our payment systems are updated to reflect changes in medical practice and the relative value of services, as well as changes in the statute. This final rule also finalizes policies included in the interim final rule with comment period in "Medicare Program; CY 2018 Updates to the Quality Payment Program; and Quality Payment Program: Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstance Policy for the Transition Year" that address the extreme and uncontrollable circumstances MIPS eligible clinicians faced as a result of widespread catastrophic events affecting a region or locale in CY 2017, such as Hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria. In addition, this final rule addresses a subset of the changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) proposed in the August 2018 proposed rule "Medicare Program; Medicare Shared Savings Program; Accountable Care Organizations--Pathways to Success". This final rule also addresses certain other revisions designed to update program policies under the Shared Savings Program. The interim final rule implements amendments made by the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to the Medicare telehealth provisions in the Social Security Act and regarding permissible telehealth originating sites for purposes of treatment of a substance use disorder or a co-occurring mental health disorder for telehealth services furnished on or after July 1, 2019 to an individual with a substance use disorder diagnosis.