October 2020 Update

Congress Expected to Pass Stopgap Funding Plan

The Senate is expected to pass a temporary funding bill, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), to fund the government through December 11th, avoiding a government shutdown which would have taken place October 1st. The House passed the CR last week by a 359-57 vote. Congress has not passed any of the 12 regular appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2021 and will leave that work until after the elections. The CR would continue the current funding levels for federal agencies through December 11th.

CMS Launches New Quality Reporting Site

In early September, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the new Care Compare, a redesigned public facing resource of eight existing CMS healthcare compare tools available to beneficiaries. Care Compare provides a single user-friendly interface that patients and caregivers can use to make informed decisions about healthcare based on cost, quality of care, volume of services, and other data. The new site compiles eight existing quality reporting sites, including rehabilitation, into one site allowing beneficiates access to all quality reporting simultaneously.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced the new site saying, “By aggregating all eight of CMS’ quality tools into a single interface, patients can easily research different providers and facilities before they entrust themselves to their care. Today’s launch of Care Compare is the next step in fulfilling our eMedicare promise. Our Administration is committed to ensuring our tools are robust and beneficial to patients.”

While the measures and data used for Care Compare have not changed, the way information is displayed is now different. During a transition period, consumers and other stakeholders will be able to use the original eight compare tools while CMS continues to gather feedback and considers additional improvements to the tool. As new information about quality and cost are added to the compare tools, Care Compare will be updated to reflect that information.

Update provided by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP