Reprinted with AIS Health permission from the October 1, 2020, issue of RADAR on Medicare Advantage CMS’s latest overview of program audits showed continued improvement among Medicare Advantage and Part…
BluePeak AdvisorsOctober 9, 2020
COVID-19 is having a dramatic impact on our lives, businesses and health care system. We understand that information and circumstances are changing rapidly and that many of your team members are…
BluePeak AdvisorsOctober 9, 2020
The most effective way for any Plan to mitigate any compliance risks for the new plan year is to strategize a process to validate the accuracy of the formulary and…
BluePeak AdvisorsSeptember 30, 2020
For the first time, starting in 2021, the 21st Century Cures Act allows beneficiaries diagnosed with ESRD to enroll in MA plans. These beneficiaries have previously been required to stay on Medicare Fee-for-Service…
BluePeak AdvisorsSeptember 30, 2020
There are several noteworthy regulatory changes that require action by Medicare Advantage and Part D Plans in 2021. 1. Provider-Facing Electronic Real-Time Benefit Tool (RTBT) CMS issued a final rule…
BluePeak AdvisorsSeptember 30, 2020
Plans may have noticed that CMS has been busy this season making changes to certain Enrollment policies, materials, and software releases to keep up with the changing environment of today…
BluePeak AdvisorsSeptember 30, 2020
Background On September 14, 2020 CMS released The Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year (CY) 2022 for Medicare Advantage (MA) Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D…
BluePeak AdvisorsSeptember 21, 2020
Operational Impact of the Contract Year 2021 Final Rule On June 2, 2020 CMS released the Contract Year 2021 and 2022 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program,…
BluePeak AdvisorsJune 17, 2020
Background On April 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (CMS-1744-IFC) as an interim…
BluePeak AdvisorsJune 13, 2020
On May 23, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule (CMS-4180-F) which adopted new processing timeframe requirements for preservice organization determinations and plan reconsiderations…
BluePeak AdvisorsJune 13, 2020
Over the course past year, CMS issued several different proposed and final rules that address making certain data available in a real-time or near real-time manner. The table below summarizes…
BluePeak AdvisorsJune 13, 2020
CMS guidance requires Medicare Advantage Plans to have an independent audit of their compliance program’s effectiveness each year. Given competing priorities, it may be tempting to conduct a limited or…
BluePeak AdvisorsJune 13, 2020
8 Tips to Ensure Your Plan is Ready After months of hard work and planning, everyone sighed with relief when bids and formularies were submitted earlier this month. But, as…
BluePeak AdvisorsJune 13, 2020
In August of 2018, CMS announced that Medicare Part D Sponsors have the option to use indication-based formularies starting January 1, 2020. Prior to this change, formulary medications were considered…
BluePeak AdvisorsApril 29, 2020
CMS issued a Fraud Alert on COVID-19 schemes on March 23 and additional guidance was released via HPMS on April 1st. On April 16th, the National Health Care Fraud Anti-Fraud…
BluePeak AdvisorsApril 18, 2020
BluePeak's Summary on COVID-19 Gallagher Special Olympic partnership COVID-19 Medicare Fact Sheet 10 Things Plan need to know about the Proposed Rule Kelly MaKay, RPh, MBA Senior Health Plan Services…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 24, 2020
Case Study During the course of a Medicare Program Audit the plan struggled with being able to generate accurate and compliant universes in a timely manner. The plan had experienced…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 22, 2020
On March 9, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule (CMS-9115-F) regarding Interoperability and Patient Access. While CMS issued a fact sheet regarding this rule, this rule…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 18, 2020
On March 11, 2020 the CMS Part C and D User Call focused on Provider Directory accuracy and how the NPPES may support such accuracy. In case you missed it,…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 18, 2020
Many of the proposed audit protocol changes for both the 2020 and 2021 audit season included changes to universes. An incomplete and incorrect universe can add 1 point toward your…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 18, 2020
In 2019, Medicare introduced new policies for opioid prescriptions in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program to encourage pharmacies, prescribers, and Medicare drug plans to work together with the…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 18, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an HPMS memo on August 20, 2019 providing an overview of the upcoming changes to program audits through 2021. These changes…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 18, 2020
On 2/28/2020, CMS released the Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Enforcement Actions for 2019 Program Audits. Contract year 2019 was the first year of this audit cycle and we have incorporated…
BluePeak AdvisorsMarch 18, 2020
On February 5, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will not be publishing a Call Letter for 2021. Rather, CMS is codifying guidance typically published…
BluePeak AdvisorsFebruary 25, 2020
In the 2021 and 2022 Policy and Technical Changes Proposed Rule, CMS is proposing routine measure updates and an increase in the weight of patient experience/complaints and access measures. It…
BluePeak AdvisorsFebruary 25, 2020
As plans prepare their drug management programs (DMPs) for CY2021 and beyond, there are several opioid provisions that must be implemented if this proposed rule (CMS-4190-P) is finalized. Below is…
BluePeak AdvisorsFebruary 25, 2020
On December 6, 2019 CMS issued the HPMS Memo titled “Proposed Collection for New Medicare Part C and Part D Program Audit and Industry-Wide Part C Timeliness Monitoring Project (TMP)…
BluePeak AdvisorsFebruary 5, 2020
In 2019, Medicare introduced new policies for opioid prescriptions in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program to encourage pharmacies, prescribers, and Medicare drug plans to work together with the…
BluePeak AdvisorsDecember 17, 2019
In October, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) held its annual training conference that spotlighted emerging fraud schemes. In addition to updates on the brace, genetic testing, and foot…
BluePeak AdvisorsDecember 17, 2019
Independent Review Entity (IRE) Transparency Initiative Plans are continuously looking for data to better understand their appeals outcome. The IRE transparency initiative provides plans with several more tools. During the…
BluePeak AdvisorsDecember 17, 2019
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