by Johanna Gray and Ellen Riker, Advocacy Consultants

We’re excited to provide a quick update on two timely opportunities for HTCs to participate in and help Alliance advocacy:

Webinar on Medicare SNF Policy Scheduled for October 18 at 2 pm: We have just finalized plans for a webinar on the new Medicare SNF policy. We have worked closely with the staff and consultants for the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and NHF, as well as several HTC social workers and administrators on this webinar. The webinar is geared to assist HTCs in placing their Medicare patients with bleeding disorders in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) following a Medicare approved hospital admission and to provide guidance on how best to provide and bill for needed treatments. The webinar will cover some basics about SNFs, including the services that are provided and the personnel available to patients. There will be a full explanation of the law change in 2021 that allows for bleeding disorder treatments to be billed separately, outside the SNF bundled payment, under Medicare Part B. Several models for delivering services will be shared to inform HTCs of options on how provide and bill for treatments for bleeding disorder patients. Stay tuned for an email so you can register to participate in the webinar.

Alternative Funding Model Advocacy: We recently reconvened our Alliance/NHF/HFA work group working on the Alternative Funding problem and have identified a few new advocacy strategies to address the issue. While we are continuing to develop potential legislation to prohibit the practice, we are also pursuing strategies to determine ways that alternative funding schemes could violate existing law. To that end: we are looking for examples of plan language describing how hemophilia treatments are no longer covered. If you have any patients that have experienced this issue, and if they are willing to share information with us, please let us know. We will continue to update Alliance members as these strategies progress. Please contact us with any questions or concerns!