tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261073102024-03-13T00:31:08.372-04:00The FEHBlogAn Ermer & Suter PLLC service providing Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and general health benefits law and policy information -- but not legal adviceDavid Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.comBlogger2710125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-81533131482512980712020-01-07T16:17:00.001-05:002020-01-07T16:17:13.649-05:00Important Notice / Change of location for the FEHBlogThe FEHBlog is being integrated into our law firm's refreshed website. The FEHBlog is pleased as punch to announce that his law firm's name has changed from Ermer Law Group to Ermer & Suter, PLLC. Check out the new website and please continue to follow the FEHBlog there. This will be the final FEHBlog post on blogger. Wordpress ho.David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-82467911021977321032020-01-06T16:10:00.002-05:002020-01-06T16:10:40.352-05:00Fascinating chartsCheck out the Peterson-KFF series of charts on how U.S. healthcare spending has changed over time, which was posted on December 20, 2019. The website explains
This chart collection explores recently released National Health Expenditure (NHE) data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These data offer insight into changes in health spending over time as well as the driving forces David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-82117711211329585822020-01-05T19:43:00.000-05:002020-01-05T19:43:06.703-05:00weekend updateAs Americans return to full work weeks following the holiday season, Congress begins the second session of the current 116th Congress here in the Nation's capital.
On Friday, according to the Volokh Conspiracy, the intervenor defendant, appellant States and House of Representatives filed separate requests for expedited review of the Fifth Circuit's decision in the Texas v. United States decisionDavid Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-79259484052912748652020-01-02T16:41:00.001-05:002020-01-03T11:40:35.505-05:00Thursday MiscellanyFierce Healthcare offers a bunch of snippet forecasts on the future of healthcare in 2020. For example
We have a lot of hospital beds in brick-and-mortar institutions and
we’re going to move to community- and home-based sites of care, which is
more convenient for the patient. Consumers are demanding easier access
to services.
The telehealth capabilities and sensors that we can put into the David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-32495324347726715942020-01-02T10:40:00.000-05:002020-01-02T10:40:28.002-05:00Happy New Year!The FEHBlog is pleased to announce that the name of his law firm has changed from the Ermer Law Group PLLC to Ermer & Suter, PLLC. Jason Suter has been the FEHBlog's partner since 2014 and it's high time that he got due recognition. Soon the FEHBlog will be available on our renamed firm's refreshed website (which should be launched in the new few days.) Our staff is writing a TPRSDavid Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-16876689169794179812019-12-31T12:29:00.002-05:002019-12-31T12:35:36.610-05:00Final FEHBlog post of 2019 / the 2010sWhen the decade began, we were enmeshed in Congressional actions which lead to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010. From a health policy perspective, this has been the ACA's decade for better or for worse.
The FEHB Program celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2019. The FEHBP which was once a fairly uncomplicated program, was burdened -- like other group health plans -- with ACA David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-7198528448534817152019-12-30T21:28:00.000-05:002019-12-30T21:30:10.028-05:00PCORI Funding ExtendedThe Affordable Care Act created, and required health insurers and plans to fund, a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.The FEHBlog thinks that the PCORI duplicates the work of existing government agencies, such as AHRQ. He also cannot understand why the cost of PCORI was not spread over other segments of the health care industry. The ACA provided PCORI with health plan / David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-36355196558221543112019-12-29T20:20:00.002-05:002019-12-29T20:20:33.183-05:00Weekend updateCongress remains out of town until next week.
Readers may recall that the health insurer trade associations had requested the Department of Health and Human Services to extend by at least 90 days the comment period o the proposed out of pocket cost transparency rule applicable to health plans. Fierce Healthcare reports that the Department has granted a 15 day extension through January 29, 2020.
David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-84631924222215995192019-12-27T14:47:00.002-05:002019-12-27T14:47:51.193-05:00CDC Updates
According to Medscape, the Centers for Disease Control ("CDC") are finding that our country. is encountering a rough flu season. There is still time to get the vaccine.
The CDC released the first national estimates of diabetes occruing in the Hispanic and Asian communities in our country.
The percentage of adults living with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes varied significantly by David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-83149859916258846482019-12-27T12:39:00.000-05:002019-12-27T12:39:15.928-05:00End of year planningYesterday the President signed an executive order implementing the Congressionally approved federal employee pay increase for the 2020 calendar year. Federal News Network explains why and by how much the pay raise depends on the employee's work location.
FEHBP Open Season changes take effect on January 1 for annuitant enrollees and the covered family members and on the first day of the first David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-63884176417271346042019-12-24T12:37:00.001-05:002019-12-24T12:41:04.238-05:00Jingle BellsModern Healthcare discusses the status of surprise billing legislation.
Months of debate on how to protect patients from out-of-network charges at in-network facilities culminated in an eight-day period when a bipartisan, bicameral proposal with White House support came together, but ultimately fell short. Some observers aren't so sure that a compromise exists anymore.
"Ultimately, the David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-34074061213034881682019-12-22T18:31:00.004-05:002019-12-22T18:37:26.625-05:00Weekend updateCongress is out of town until January 7, 2020. The President has signed into law the final two spending bills and the defense authorization act for fiscal year 2020 whose provisions the FEHBlog has been discussing over the past few weeks.
In an interesting development, according to Forbes, the prescription benefit managers, Express Scripts, which insurer Cigna owns, and Prime Therapeutics which David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-55514812956894201382019-12-20T19:04:00.000-05:002019-12-20T19:04:03.300-05:00Reflections on the weekWow what a week this has been. Congress repealed three Affordable Care Act taxes that raised or promised to raise the cost curve -- the medical device tax, the health insurer tax, and the high cost employer plan (or Cadillac) tax.
The FEHBlog has read pieces bemoaning the loss of tax revenue. The only one of these taxes to generate revenue was the health insurer tax which only served to increaseDavid Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-73220966326581490032019-12-19T19:04:00.000-05:002019-12-19T19:04:08.971-05:00Thursday MiscellanyThe Senate joined the House of Representatives in passing by wide margins the two final FY 2020 spending bills (HR 1158 and 1865). The President is expected to sign the bills. Govexec.com discusses the impact of the bills on federal agencies including OPM. Congress is now headed out of town for the holidays.
On the Health and Human Services Department front this week --
HHS laid out a David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-32094707388848478592019-12-18T18:32:00.001-05:002019-12-18T18:34:44.113-05:00Decision Reached in Texas v. Azar On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in the Texas v. Azar case. Healthcare Dive named this Affordable Care Act unconstitutionality case as the "disruptor" of 2019.
The Fifth Circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that Congress’s 2017 decision to zero out the ACA's individual shared responsibility penalty David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-16195816164770835802019-12-17T16:20:00.000-05:002019-12-17T16:20:48.741-05:00Tuesday TidbitsThe House of Representatives passed today the two final FY 2020 spending bills (HR 1158 and 1865), which include provisions repealing the three ACA taxes that raise health care costs -- the medical device tax, the health insurer tax, and the high cost employer plan, or Cadillac, tax. Sen. Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, announced that theDavid Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-59302492299994365712019-12-16T15:14:00.001-05:002019-12-16T15:14:47.907-05:00Santa Claus is coming to town Federal News Network and Govexec.com report that the omnibus spending bill includes the 2.6% across the board pay raise for federal employees plus a 0.5% locality pay increase as proposed by the House of Representatives. President Trump had proposed just the 2.6% increase. The pay increase would take effect on January 1, 2020.
The Hill reports that this bill also would repeal all three of the David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-15624996179208741592019-12-15T18:01:00.000-05:002019-12-15T18:01:05.237-05:00Weekend updateCongress leaves town this Friday December 20 (and likely earlier if they can get the omnibus appropriations bill done).
The FEHBlog heard one of those pro-surprise billing arbitration commercials on television yesterday. The commercial condemned government price fixing on surprise billers claiming that it would only benefit the evil, greedy health insurers. Baloney.
Federal and state laws are David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-47511288077573351412019-12-13T15:31:00.001-05:002019-12-13T16:20:40.268-05:00TGIFHealth Payer Intelligence reports that
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) submitted a statement to the House Energy and Commerce Committee opposing current single-payer proposals in the United States.
“Americans are facing an escalating crisis of affordability across our health care system. Cost pressures are becoming more intense for all who pay the tab for health care in the United David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-11393269299628249142019-12-12T20:11:00.000-05:002019-12-12T20:12:25.751-05:00Capitol Hill UpdateGood news. Govexec.com reports today that the Democrat and Republican leadership in Congress along with the White House have agreed on an omnibus spending bill for the current government fiscal year. Congress has time to pass this legislation before the December 20 deadline provided by the current continuing resolution. Details have not yet been unveiled.
The House of Representatives passed David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-51105144580779763872019-12-11T20:16:00.002-05:002019-12-12T08:26:08.849-05:00Midweek updateThe House of Representatives passed the current fiscal year defense authorization act today by a wide margin. The Federal News Network reports on provisions beyond the paid parental leave program that affect federal employees, federal annuitants, and federal benefit programs. Specifically the bill addresses FEHBP and FEDVIP problems that arose in the lengthy government shutdown earlier this year.David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-32036804147444869552019-12-10T20:52:00.003-05:002019-12-10T20:52:58.015-05:00More on S. 1895 and then someThanks to Healthcare Dive, the FEHBlog found the section by section summary of the revised S. 1895 bill reference in yesterday[s post. The Healthcare Dive article notes that "The latest details emerging on legislation to ban surprise medical billing includes nuggets [found in the summary] meant to pacify payers and providers, but is not pleasing either."
Those nuggets certainly disturb the David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-30723442360304206882019-12-09T17:27:00.001-05:002019-12-09T17:29:44.127-05:00S. 1895, H,R, 19, and Rankings / Awards"Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) along with Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-Ore.) yesterday announced they have reached a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on legislation to lower what Americans pay out of pocket for their health care." This is a revised version of S. 1895, the bill to lower David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-71244372820194781562019-12-08T17:06:00.003-05:002019-12-09T07:33:01.753-05:00Weekend UpdateThe Federal Benefits Open Season's last day is tomorrow.
Congress remains in session this coming week. The Wall Street Journal reports that
Congress struck a tentative bipartisan agreement that would authorize 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all federal workers, in a potentially historic deal negotiated with the White House.
Draft language for a must-pass annual defense policy bill David Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26107310.post-57438306170722732202019-12-06T16:43:00.001-05:002019-12-06T16:43:41.568-05:00TGIFYesterday, the CMS Actuary issued its report on 2018 National Healthcare Expenditures.
Total national healthcare spending in 2018 grew 4.6 percent, which was slower than the 5.4 percent overall economic growth as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a study conducted by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and published today aheadDavid Ermerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841542810249024908noreply@blogger.com0