Washington Debrief: CMS Innovation Center Sees Senate Committee Scrutiny

Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Encourage Remote Patient Monitoring Two Senators reintroduced legislation this week that would have HHS create pilot projects to reward home health agencies with financial incentives for using remote patient monitoring.  Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) say Fostering Independence Through Technology Act is designed to reduce hospital readmission rates in rural and underserved parts of the country through the use of remote patient monitoring technology. 

“By expanding the use of innovative home care technology, this legislation will make healthcare more efficient and will allow seniors to stay in their homes longer without jeopardizing their health, safety or access to healthcare professionals,” Sen. Klobuchar said in a news release.  “This innovative RPM technology has the ability to revolutionize patient care and dramatically reduce the amount of money Medicare spends on hospital readmissions each year,” Sen. Thune agreed.  According to the bill’s authors, it is structured to be a neutral budget item for the government, as no incentive payments will be paid unless participants have documented savings.

Congress to Fund Government through October Usually, the passage of a multi-hundred billion dollar bill by Congress might warrant a Top News slot – but as last-minute continuing resolutions are now considered the norm, this story plays second fiddle in the Legislation & Politics slot.  The U.S. House of Representatives this week voted 318-109 to approve a continuing resolution funding the government through September while adding appropriations and flexibility for certain agencies, without increasing overall funding. The legislation (H.R. 933) next goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it before the current CR expires on March 27.  Of note to the health community, the new CR includes a $71 million increase for the National Institutes of Health and would require the administration to obligate all fiscal year 2013 funds appropriated for community health centers.  However, the legislation retains the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that took effect March 1 under the Budget Control Act, including the 2% reduction to providers’ Medicare payments, including cuts to Meaningful Use payments.