Care Innovation Summit Builds on Affordable Care Act; Highlights Private and Public Innovations to Improve Healthcare Quality and Lower Costs
Obama Administration officials and a breadth of representatives from across the healthcare system met in Washington on Thu Jan 26 for a day-long meeting to explore how they can collaborate and improve the quality of healthcare while at the same time lowering costs. The Obama Administration also released a new report highlighting the success of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. Created by the Affordable Care Act, the Innovation Center has already worked to test and support innovative new healthcare models that can reduce costs and strengthen the quality of healthcare. The CMS Innovation Center Year-in-Review report is available at http://www.Innovation.CMS.gov/documents/pdf/CMMIreport_508.pdf<http://www.innovation.cms.gov/documents/pdf/CMMIreport_508.pdf>. The summit showcased nearly half a dozen announcements of major new initiatives by leading healthcare organizations, including new "challenges" to reverse the trend of diabetes, advance the field of Alzheimer's prevention and treatment, and bolster the battle against HIV/AIDS. For more information on the Care Innovation Summit, visit http://www.Innovation.CMS.gov/summit<http://www.innovation.cms.gov/summit/>. The full text of this excerpted HHS press release (issued Thu Jan 26) can be found at http://www.HHS.gov/news/press/2012pres/01/20120126a.html<http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/01/20120126a.html>. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Affordable Care Act Will Save States and Taxpayers $17.7 Billion on Prescription Drugs; Proposed Rule Cuts Costs and Increases Transparency in Medicaid Prescription Drug Pricing Provisions in the healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, will save taxpayers and States an estimated $17.7 billion over five years on prescription drugs bought through Medicaid, according to estimates in a proposed rule issued on Fri Jan 27 CMS. The announcement, implementing the Medicaid prescription drug provisions of the Affordable Care Act, will increase transparency in drug pricing and ensure taxpayers and States are not overpaying for prescription drugs. The Medicaid Pharmacy Regulation notice of proposed rulemaking can be found in the Federal Register at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-02/pdf/2012-2014.pdf . The comment period on the proposed rule will be open until Mon Apr 2. CMS plans to issue a final rule in 2013. The full text of this excerpted press release can be found on the CMS website at http://www.CMS.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4251<http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4251>. ________________________________ It's Not too Late to Give and Get the Flu Vaccine. Take advantage of each office visit and protect your patients against the seasonal flu. Medicare will continue to pay for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for all Medicare beneficiaries through the entire flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that patients, healthcare workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get the Flu Vaccine-Not the Flu. Remember - The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug. For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations. ________________________________ Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
