Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015

Support for provisions in 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34), including establishment of a socio-economic status (SES) risk adjuster for the Medicare Readmissions Reduction Program; changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) and flexibility in implementation of Section 603 of the law; non-enforcement of the direct supervision rules for CAHs; NIH, mental health, and opioid crisis provisions and funding Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for changes to liver transplant allocation system Urging modifications to Hospital Compare Star Rating System Support for Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745) Addressing concerns related to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and reporting mechanisms Encouraging Committees of jurisdiction to examine overlap in Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) Urging further flexibility in proposed rule [CMS-5517-P] to implement Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Opposition to redistribution of Medicare DSH payments proposed in FFY 2017 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule [CMS-1655-P] Support for Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Support for Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Support for Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Support for Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227) Support for emergency funding to address Zika outbreak Encouraging Administration to engage hospital and health system field in discussions to address cybersecurity challenges.

Client expense: $110,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE

Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and to extend non-enforcement for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibility: advocating for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program,that Stage 3 not begin until no sooner than 2019 and that meaningful use requirements for hospitals and CAHs align with those for eligible clinicians in MACRA; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support S 629 and H.R. 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Urged limitations on Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs)that includes financial penalties for inaccurate audit decisions; Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513 Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program; Discuss S. 861, Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015 with the Senate Finance Committee to reform the Medicare audits and appeals process; Support S. 2141 Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology (TRUST IT) Act, a bill for improved transparency of information about certified EHRs; Advocate to improve interoperability of electronic health records; Letter to CMS urging use of existing authority to bring flexibility to the EHR Incentive Program and discussion about needed flexibility; Support H.R. 5164, Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act, a bill to extend the enforcement moratorium on CMS direct supervision policy for CAHs and small, rural hospitals; Support S. 3129/H.R. 5613, legislation to extend through CY2016, the enforcement moratorium on CMS direct supervision policy for CAHs and small, rural hospitals.

H.R. 2513 "PACE Act of 2015" - Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Oppose any effort to lower such payments. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. Oppose any reductions to such payments. H.R. 663/S.332 "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" - Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. Oppose any additional site neutral cuts. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. H.R. 5273 "Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016" - Advocated for targeted, appropriate Hospital Outpatient Department under development language in the House Ways and Means package including LTCH provision. Advocated for Medicaid expansion and the role hospitals have in caring for patients in Medicaid populations. Part B Demo - Opposed administration's proposed Part B Drug Demo. Advocated for limits to CMMI Pilots. H.R. 6226 "Pre-Claims Undermine Seniors Health Act" - Support delay of pre-claim review for home health services. H.R. 1343/S. 688 "Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015" - SES risk adjustment for hospital payment and readmissions. H.R. 3298 "Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015" - Provided comments on Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015. Advocated for restoration of hospital Medicare cuts if Affordable Care Act is repealed.

Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and to extend non-enforcement for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibility: advocating for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program,that Stage 3 not begin until no sooner than 2019 and that meaningful use requirements for hospitals and CAHs align with those for eligible clinicians in MACRA; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support S 629 and H.R. 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Urged limitations on Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs)that includes financial penalties for inaccurate audit decisions; Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513 Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program; Discuss S. 861, Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015 with the Senate Finance Committee to reform the Medicare audits and appeals process; Support S. 2141 Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology (TRUST IT) Act, a bill for improved transparency of information about certified EHRs; Advocate to improve interoperability of electronic health records; Letter to CMS urging use of existing authority to bring flexibility to the EHR Incentive Program and discussion about needed flexibility; Support H.R. 5164, Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act, a bill to extend the enforcement moratorium on CMS direct supervision policy for CAHs and small, rural hospitals; Support S. 3129/H.R. 5613, legislation to extend through CY2016, the enforcement moratorium on CMS direct supervision policy for CAHs and small, rural hospitals.

Funding for 340B Drug Pricing Program Critical Access Hospital Relief Act (S. 258; H.R. 169) Support for changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) and flexibility in implementation of Section 603 of the law. Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745) Encouraging Committees of jurisdiction to examine overlap in Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) Urging further flexibility in proposed rule [CMS-5517-P] to implement Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Two-Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082)

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Two Midnight Rule Socioeconomic adjustment of the hospital readmission reduction program (H.R. 1343/S. 688, H.R. 5273) Medicare audit contractor program reforms (H.R. 2156, S. 2368) Rural hospital policies (H.R. 663 / S. 332, H.R. 169/S. 258, H.R. 1611/S. 257, S. 1461/H.R. 2878, H.R. 5164, H.R. 5613, CAH cost-based reimbursement) Telehealth, interoperability, health information technology (H.R. 6, S. 2511, S. 2484/H.R. 4442) Post-Acute Care policies (H.R. 3298), home health prior authorization S. 2108, H.R. 5713 Graduate Medical Education policy (H.R. 2124, S. 1148, H.R 3292) HR 976, HR 2513 DSH payment Bundled payment programs Clinical lab payment policy MACRA implementation NOTICE Act implementation Sec 603 Bipartisan Budget Act / site neutral payment policies (H.R. 5273) Stark Law reforms H.R. 4428 Star Ratings Medicare Part B drug payment model Medicare Advantage

Client expense: $70,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Mental Health Reform Health Care Reform Implementation Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) CMS Home Health Pre-Claim Demonstration

Client expense: $120,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), SENATE

Support for changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) and flexibility in implementation of Section 603 of the law. Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for changes to liver transplant allocation system 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) and Senate HELP Committee provisions related to interoperability and information blocking Urging modifications to Hospital Compare Star Rating System Support for National Institutes of Health funding Support for Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745) Addressing concerns related to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and reporting mechanisms Encouraging Committees of jurisdiction to examine overlap in Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) Urging further flexibility in proposed rule [CMS-5517-P] to implement Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Opposition to redistribution of Medicare DSH payments proposed in FFY 2017 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule [CMS-1655-P] Support for Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Support for Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Support for Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) and inclusion of similar provision in Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act (H.R. 5273) Support for Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Support for Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227) Support for emergency funding to address Zika outbreak Support for authorization of new programs as well as increased funding to improve and expand access to mental health treatment services and substance use disorders. Encouraging Administration to engage hospital and health system field in discussions to address cybersecurity challenges.

Mental Health Reform Health Care Reform Implementation Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) CMS Home Health Pre-Claim Demonstration

Client expense: $120,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), SENATE

H.R. 2513 "PACE Act of 2015" - Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Oppose any effort to lower such payments. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. Oppose any reductions to such payments. H.R. 663/S.332 "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" - Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. Oppose any additional site neutral cuts. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. H.R. 5273 "Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016" - Advocated for targeted, appropriate Hospital Outpatient Department under development language in the House Ways and Means package including LTCH provision. Advocated for Medicaid expansion and the role hospitals have in caring for patients in Medicaid populations. Part B Demo - Opposed administration's proposed Part B Drug Demo. H.R. 6226 "Pre-Claims Undermine Seniors Health Act" - Support delay of pre-claim review for home health services. Hospital Stars Rating - Support for delay in the CMS Hospitals Stars Program data release. DSH/S-10 - Advocate for delay and reform of the Administration's DSH/S-10 proposal. H.R. 1343/S. 688 "Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015" - SES risk adjustment for hospital payment and readmissions. Stark - Provided comments to Senate Finance Committee regarding reform of Stark physician self-referral law and Medicare anti-kickback statute. H.R. 3298 "Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015" - Provided comments on Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015.

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act of 2015 (S. 258/H.R. 169) Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (S. 332/H.R. 663) Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 (S. 607/H.R. 672) Act to Reform Recover Audit Contractors (RACs) (H.R. 2156) Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act (S. 1648) Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R. 3225) Critical Access and Rural Equity (CARE) Act (H.R. 4553) Direct Supervision 2016 Extension of Moratorium (S.3129/H.R. 5613); and H.R. 5614 for permanent moratorium Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 5164) Critical Access and Rural Equity (CARE) Act (H.R. 4553) Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 (H.R. 5273) Proposed rule on implementation of MACRA Proposed FY2017 Hospice Wage Index Comments regarding the HHS budget proposal to change payment of CAH from 101% to 100% of costs Concerns with implementation of Sec. 603 site-neutral reductions to Iowa hospitals and the CMS interpretation of the legislation in the outpatient prospective payment system proposed rule Concern with Hospital star ratings, and Hospital Quality Rating Transparency Act of 2016 (HR 5927) Significant concerns with Iowa's proposed transition to Medicaid managed care Medicare reduction proposals in President Obama's budget released 2015 MedPAC recommendations for cuts to hospital payments avoiding site-neutral cuts recovery audit contractor (RAC) program and needed transparency and changes protecting critical access hospital funding and necessary provider status rural hospitals and access to care in Iowa encouraging value-based purchasing hospital acquired conditions and other quality measures Medicare formula and Iowa's payment compared to payments to other states Iowa hospital's economic impact to communities and the state beneficiary access throughout Iowa and threats from regulatory burdens and changes importance of 340B program to Iowa's hospitals Changes to the definition of patient in the 340B guidance and impact on Iowa hospitals Extension of sequestration against Medicare and the inclusion of the "site neutral" hospital outpatient department payment change in H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Hospital outpatient department grandfathering provision to include currently planned facilities and acquisitions at time of enactment of H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Concerns about processing and preauthorization, access to care issues with the Veteran's Choice program.

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act of 2015 (S. 258/H.R. 169) Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (S. 332/H.R. 663) Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 (S. 607/H.R. 672) Act to Reform Recover Audit Contractors (RACs) (H.R. 2156) Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act (S. 1648) Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R. 3225) Critical Access and Rural Equity (CARE) Act (H.R. 4553) Direct Supervision 2016 Extension of Moratorium (S.3129/H.R. 5613) Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 5164) Critical Access and Rural Equity (CARE) Act (H.R. 4553) Proposed rule on implementation of MACRA Proposed FY2017 Hospice Wage Index Comments regarding the HHS budget proposal to change payment of CAH from 101% to 100% of costs Significant concerns with Iowa's proposed transition to Medicaid managed care Medicare reduction proposals in President Obama's budget released 2015 MedPAC recommendations for cuts to hospital payments avoiding site-neutral cuts recovery audit contractor (RAC) program and needed transparency and changes protecting critical access hospital funding and necessary provider status rural hospitals and access to care in Iowa encouraging value-based purchasing hospital acquired conditions and other quality measures Medicare formula and Iowa's payment compared to payments to other states Iowa hospital's economic impact to communities and the state beneficiary access throughout Iowa and threats from regulatory burdens and changes importance of 340B program to Iowa's hospitals sustainable growth rate fix and impact on hospitals in Iowa Meaningful use in EHR Changes to the definition of patient in the 340B guidance and impact on Iowa hospitals Extension of sequestration against Medicare and the inclusion of the "site neutral" hospital outpatient department payment change in H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Clarifying amendment to hospital outpatient department grandfathering provision to include currently planned facilities and acquisitions at time of enactment of H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Concerns about processing and preauthorization, access to care issues with the Veteran's Choice program.

Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and to extend non-enforcement for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibility: advocating for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program,that Stage 3 not begin until no sooner than 2019 and that meaningful use requirements for hospitals and CAHs align with those for eligible clinicians in MACRA; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support S 629 and H.R. 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Urged limitations on Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs)that includes financial penalties for inaccurate audit decisions; Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513 Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program; Discuss S. 861, Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015 with the Senate Finance Committee to reform the Medicare audits and appeals process; Support S. 2141 Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology (TRUST IT) Act, a bill for improved transparency of information about certified EHRs; Advocate to improve interoperability of electronic health records; Letter to CMS urging use of existing authority to bring flexibility to the EHR Incentive Program and discussion about needed flexibility; Support H.R. 5164, Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act, a bill to extend the enforcement moratorium on CMS direct supervision policy for CAHs and small, rural hospitals; Support S. 3129/H.R. 5613, legislation to extend through CY2016, the enforcement moratorium on CMS direct supervision policy for CAHs and small, rural hospitals.

Opposing Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including those to Graduate Medical Education (H.R. 3292, the Medicare IME Pool Act of 2015), bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Support for changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) and flexibility in implementation of Section 603 of the law. Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for changes to liver transplant allocation system 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) and Senate HELP Committee provisions related to interoperability and information blocking Urging release of funding for Ebola preparedness and treatment Urging modifications to Hospital Compare Star Rating System Support for National Institutes of Health funding Support for Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745) Addressing concerns related to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and reporting mechanisms Encouraging Committees of jurisdiction to examine overlap in Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) Urging further flexibility in proposed rule [CMS-5517-P] to implement Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Opposition to redistribution of Medicare DSH payments proposed in FFY 2017 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule [CMS-1655-P] Support for Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Support for Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Support for Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) and inclusion of similar provision in Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act (H.R. 5273) Support for Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Two Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082) Support for Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Support for Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227) Support for emergency funding to address Zika outbreak Support for authorization of new programs as well as increased funding to improve and expand access to mental health treatment services and substance use disorders. Encouraging Administration to engage hospital and health system field in discussions to address cybersecurity challenges.

H.R. 2513 "PACE Act of 2015" - Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Oppose any effort to lower such payments. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. oppose any reductions to such payments. H.R. 663/S.332 "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" - Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. Oppose any additional site neutral cuts. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset. H.R. 2156 "Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015" supports legislation to improve Medicare audits and provided comments to Senate Finance Committee to improve draft legislation. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. S. 2822 "Flexibility in Electronic Health Record Reporting Act" - Advocate for 90 day reporting under meaningful use program requirements as part of the EHR Incentive Program. H.R. 5273 "Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016" - Advocated for targeted, appropriate Hospital Outpatient Department under development language in the House Ways and Means package including LTCH provision. Advocated for Medicaid expansion and the role hospitals have in caring for patients in Medicaid populations. Medicaid Provider Tax - Oppose efforts to limit states ability to use Medicaid provider taxes. Commented on potential policy changes to both the Hospital Acquired Conditions Program and the Readmissions Program. Part B Demo - Opposed administration's proposed Part B Drug Demo. Home Health Prior Authorization - Oppose home health prior authorization proposed demonstration project. Hospital Stars Rating - Support for delay in the CMS Hospitals Stars Program data release. DSH/S-10 - Advocate for delay and reform of the Administration's DSH/S-10 proposal. H.R. 1343/S. 688 "Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015" - SES risk adjustment for hospital payment and readmissions.

Mental Health Reform Health Care Reform Implementation Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663)

Client expense: $120,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), SENATE

Two Midnight Rule Socioeconomic adjustment of the hospital readmission reduction program (H.R. 1343/S. 688, H.R. 5273) Medicare audit contractor program reforms (H.R. 2156, S. 2368) Rural hospital policies (H.R. 663 / S. 332, H.R. 169/S. 258, H.R. 1611/S. 257, S. 1461/H.R. 2878, H.R. 5164) Telehealth, interoperability, health information technology (H.R. 6, S. 2511, S. 2484/H.R. 4442) Post-Acute Care policies, home health prior authorization Graduate Medical Education policy (H.R. 2124, S. 1148, H.R 3292) DSH payment Clinical lab payment policy MACRA implementation NOTICE Act implementation Sec 603 Bipartisan Budget Act / site neutral payment policies (H.R. 5273) Stark Law reforms H.R. 4428 Star Ratings Medicaid Managed Care rule Medicare Part B drug payment model Medicare Advantage

Client expense: $70,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R.3225) Funding for 340B Drug Pricing Program Critical Access Hospital Relief Act (S. 258; H.R. 169) Support for Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including Graduate Medical Education Support for Resident Physician Shortage Act of 2015 (S. 1148; H.R. 2124) Opposing Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including those to Graduate Medical Education (H.R. 3292, the Medicare IME Pool Act of 2015), bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Support for changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) and flexibility in implementation of Section 603 of the law. Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) and inclusion of similar provision in Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act (H.R. 5273) Support for Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745) Addressing concerns related to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and reporting mechanisms Encouraging Committees of jurisdiction to examine overlap in Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) Urging further flexibility in proposed rule [CMS-5517-P] to implement Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Opposition to redistribution of Medicare DSH payments proposed in FFY 2017 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule [CMS-1655-P] Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Two-Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082)

Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and to extend non-enforcement for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibility: advocating for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program and that Stage 3 not begin until 75 percent of EHs, CAHs and EPs attain Stage 2.; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support S 629 and H.R. 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Urged limitations on Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs)that includes financial penalties for inaccurate audit decisions; Support ICD-10 delay and advocate to maintain the Oct. 1, 2015 transition date for ICD-10; Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513 Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program; Discuss S. 861, Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015 with the Senate Finance Committee to reform the Medicare audits and appeals process; Support S. 2141 Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology (TRUST IT) Act, a bill for improved transparency of information about certified EHRs; Advocate to improve interoperability of electronic health records.

Health Care Reform Implementation Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, S. 1148/HR 2124

Client expense: $110,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), SENATE

Two Midnight Rule Socioeconomic adjustment of the hospital readmission reduction program (H.R. 1343/S. 688) Medicare audit contractor program reforms (H.R. 2156, S. 2368) Rural hospital policies (H.R. 663 / S. 332, H.R. 169/S. 258, H.R. 1611/S. 257, S. 1461/H.R. 2878) Telehealth, interoperability, health information technology (H.R. 6, S. 2511, S. 2484/H.R. 4442) Physician self-referral (H.R. 2027, H.R. 976) Hospital Improvements for Payment Act (H.R. 3291) Post-Acute Care policies (H.R. 1458, H.R. 3298) Graduate Medical Education policy reforms (H.R. 2124, S. 1148, H.R 3292) DSH payment (H.R. 3288) H.R. 4428 Clinical lab payment policy Discharge planning MACRA implementation NOTICE Act implementation Sec 603 Bipartisan Budget Act / site neutral payment policies Stark Law reforms

Client expense: $83,731 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

H.R. 2513 "PACE Act of 2015" - Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. H.R. 663/S.332 "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" - Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. Oppose the lowering of Medicare outpatient site neutral rates. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset. Provided guidance on Medicare hospital payment reform legislative drafts: Medicare Crosswalk Hospital Code Development Act of 2015, Strengthening DSH and Medicare Through Subsidy Recapture and Payment Reform Act of 2015, Medicare Crosswalk IME Pool Act of 2015, and the Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015-under consideration by the House Ways and Means Committee. H.R. 2156, "Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015" supports legislation to improve Medicare audits and provided comments to Senate Finance Committee to improve draft legislation. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. Meaningful Use - Advocate for reasonable Stage 3 meaningful use requirements as part of the EHR Incentive Program. Worked to restore funding for AHRQ and CMMI in the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3020. Chronic Care - provided comments and policy suggestions on Senate Finance Committee efforts to improve chronic care outcomes and treatments. Under Development - Advocate for technical change to the HOPD policy in the BBA15 (H.R. 1314/P.L. 114-74) to allow for an under development exception. Ensure appropriate implementation of exempt off-campus provider-based emergency departments from the hospital outpatient site neutral policy. Advocated for Medicaid expansion and the role hospitals have in caring for patients in Medicaid populations. Advocated for Medicaid Supplemental Payments, to support an adequate Medicaid payment rate. Commented on potential policy changes to both the Hospital Acquired Conditions Program and the Readmissions Program.

Opposing Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including those to Graduate Medical Education (H.R. 3292, the Medicare IME Pool Act of 2015), bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Support for changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for changes to liver transplant allocation system 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) and Senate HELP Committee provisions related to interoperability and information blocking Urging release of funding for Ebola preparedness and treatment Urging modifications to Hospital Compare Star Rating System Support for National Institutes of Health funding Support for Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745) Addressing concerns related to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and reporting mechanisms Encouraging Committees of jurisdiction to examine overlap in Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) Support for Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Support for Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Support for Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) Support for Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Two Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082) Support for Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Support for Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227)

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act of 2015 (S. 258/H.R. 169) Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (S. 332/H.R. 663) Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 (S. 607/H.R. 672) Act to Reform Recover Audit Contractors (RACs) (H.R. 2156) Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act (S. 1648) Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R. 3225) Critical Access and Rural Equity (CARE) Act (H.R. 4553) Significant concerns with Iowa's proposed transition to Medicaid managed care Medicare reduction proposals in President Obama's budget released 2015 MedPAC recommendations for cuts to hospital payments avoiding site-neutral cuts recovery audit contractor (RAC) program and needed transparency and changes protecting critical access hospital funding and necessary provider status rural hospitals and access to care in Iowa encouraging value-based purchasing hospital acquired conditions and other quality measures Medicare formula and Iowa's payment compared to payments to other states Iowa hospital's economic impact to communities and the state beneficiary access throughout Iowa and threats from regulatory burdens and changes importance of 340B program to Iowa's hospitals sustainable growth rate fix and impact on hospitals in Iowa Meaningful use in EHR Changes to the definition of patient in the 340B guidance and impact on Iowa hospitals Extension of sequestration against Medicare and the inclusion of the "site neutral" hospital outpatient department payment change in H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Clarifying amendment to hospital outpatient department grandfathering provision to include currently planned facilities and acquisitions at time of enactment of H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Concerns about processing and preauthorization, access to care issues with the Veteran's Choice program.

HALO letter sent to Congress about the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) for physician payment; Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and to extend non-enforcement for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibility: advocating for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program and that Stage 3 not begin until 75 percent of EHs, CAHs and EPs attain Stage 2.; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support HR 2, Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and strengthen Medicare access by improving physician payments and making other improvements, to reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program; Support HR 1470, SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and improve Medicare payments for physicians and other professionals; Support S 629, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Oppose Recovery Audit Contracts (RACs)Section 3 that imposes financial penalties on RACs; Support ICD-10 delay and advocate to maintain the Oct. 1, 2015 transition date for ICD-10; Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 1295, Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015because the inclusion of the Medicare sequestration offset; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program; Discuss S. 861, Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015 with the Senate Finance Committee to reform the Medicare audits and appeals process; Support S. 2141 Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology (TRUST IT) Act, a bill for improved transparency of information about certified EHRs; Advocate to improve interoperability of electronic health records.

Opposing Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including those to Graduate Medical Education (H.R. 3292, the Medicare IME Pool Act of 2015), bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Support for changes to site-neutral payment provision of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Support for finalizing Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) 2015-2017 Modifications Rule; support for delaying of Stage 3 Rule Urging Release of New York State Medicaid Vital Access Provider Program Funding Support for changes to liver transplant allocation system 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) and Senate HELP Committee provisions related to interoperability and information blocking Urging release of funding for Ebola preparedness and treatment Support for National Institutes of Health funding Support for Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Support for Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Support for Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) Support for Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 (H.R. 270) Support for Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Two Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082) Support for Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Support for Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227)

H.R. 2513 "PACE Act of 2015" - Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. H.R. 663/S.332 "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" - Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. Oppose the lowering of Medicare outpatient site neutral proposal rates. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset. Provided guidance on Medicare hospital payment reform legislative drafts: Medicare Crosswalk Hospital Code Development Act of 2015, Strengthening DSH and Medicare Through Subsidy Recapture and Payment Reform Act of 2015, Medicare Crosswalk IME Pool Act of 2015, and the Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015-under consideration by the House Ways and Means Committee. H.R. 2156, "Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015" supports legislation to improve Medicare audits and provided comments to Senate Finance Committee to improve draft legislation. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. CMS "2 Midnight" Policy - advocate for policy to allow for physician judgment on whether a patient should be considered inpatient or outpatient status, and other modifications to the policy. Meaningful Use - Advocate for reasonable Stage 3 meaningful use requirements as part of the EHR Incentive Program. Worked to restore funding for AHRQ and CMMI in the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3020. Chronic Care - provided comments and policy suggestions on Senate Finance Committee efforts to improve chronic care outcomes and treatments. Under Development - Advocate for technical change to the HOPD policy in the BBA15 (H.R. 1314/P.L. 114-74) to allow for an under development exception. H.R. 1314 "Balanced Budget Act of 2015" - Advocated to exempt off-campus provider-based emergency departments from the hospital outpatient site neutral policy. Advocated for Medicaid expansion and the role hospitals have in caring for patients in Medicaid populations. Advocated for Medicaid Supplemental Payments, to support an adequate Medicaid payment rate.

Health Care Reform Implementation Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, S. 1148/HR 2124

Client expense: $60,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), SENATE

Two Midnight Rule Socioeconomic adjustment of the hospital readmission reduction program (H.R. 1343/ S. 688) Medicare audit contractor program reforms (H.R. 2156, AFIRM Act) Health information technology (H.R. 270, H.R. 3309, H.R. 3940, S. 2425) Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2) Patient status notification (H.R. 876, S. 1349) Rural hospital policies (H.R. 663 / S. 332, H.R. 169 / S. 258, H.R. 1611 / S. 257, S. 1461 / H.R. 2878) Telehealth, interoperability (H.R. 6) Physician self-referral (H.R. 2027, H.R. 976) Hospital Improvements for Payment Act (H.R. 3291) Post-Acute Care policies (H.R. 1458, H.R. 3298) Graduate Medical Education policy reforms (H.R. 2124, S. 1148, H.R 3292) DSH payment (H.R. 3288) Bipartisan Budget Act (H.R. 1314) Clinical lab payment policy

Client expense: $73,623 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Health Care Reform Implementation 21st Century Cures Act, H.R. 6 Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) H.R. 270, Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015

Client expense: $120,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), SENATE

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act of 2015 (S. 258/H.R. 169) Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (S. 332/H.R. 663) Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 (S. 607/H.R. 672) Act to Reform Recover Audit Contractors (RACs) (H.R. 2156) Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act (S. 1648) Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R. 3225) Significant concerns with Iowa's proposed transition to Medicaid managed care Medicare reduction proposals in President Obama's budget released 2015 MedPAC recommendations for cuts to hospital payments avoiding site-neutral cuts recovery audit contractor (RAC) program and needed transparency and changes protecting critical access hospital funding and necessary provider status rural hospitals and access to care in Iowa encouraging value-based purchasing hospital acquired conditions and other quality measures Medicare formula and Iowa's payment compared to payments to other states Iowa hospital's economic impact to communities and the state beneficiary access throughout Iowa and threats from regulatory burdens and changes importance of 340B program to Iowa's hospitals sustainable growth rate fix and impact on hospitals in Iowa Meaningful use in EHR Changes to the definition of patient in the 340B guidance and impact on Iowa hospitals Extension of sequestration against Medicare and the inclusion of the "site neutral" hospital outpatient department payment change in H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Clarifying amendment to hospital outpatient department grandfathering provision to include currently planned facilities and acquisitions at time of enactment of H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Support for the Bay State fix in the Continuing Resolution

Client expense: $65,000 · Firm income: Not reported

HALO letter sent to Congress about the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) for physician payment; Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, which provide incentives and penalties to encourage meaningful use of EHRs by hospitals and physicians and to extend non-enforcement instruction for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibilityadvocate for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support HR 2, Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and strengthen Medicare access by improving physician payments and making other improvements, to reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program; Support HR 1470, SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and improve Medicare payments for physicians and other professionals; Support S 629, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Oppose Recovery Audit Contracts (RACs)Section 3 that imposes financial penalties on RACs; Support ICD-10 delay and advocate to maintain the Oct. 1, 2015 transition date for ICD-10; Discussions to oppose site neutral payments. Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 1295, Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015because the inclusion of the Medicare sequestration offset; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program; Discuss S. 861, Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015 with the Senate Finance Committee to reform the Medicare audits and appeals process.

Two Midnight Rule Socioeconomic adjustment of the hospital readmission reduction program (H.R. 1343/ S. 688) Medicare audit contractor program reforms (H.R. 2156, AFIRM Act) Flexibility in Health IT (H.R. 270, H.R. 3309) Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2) Patient status notification (H.R. 876, S. 1349) Rural hospital policies (H.R. 663 / S. 332, H.R. 169 / S. 258, H.R. 1611 / S. 257, S. 1461 / H.R. 2878) Telehealth, interoperability (H.R. 6) Medicare Advantage (H.R. 2505, H.R. 2506, H.R. 2507, H.R. 2579, H.R. 2581) Physician self-referral (H.R. 2027, H.R. 976) Hospital Improvements for Payment Act (H.R. 3291) Post-Acute Care policies (H.R. 1458, H.R. 3298) Graduate Medical Education policy reforms (H.R. 2124, S. 1148, H.R 3292) DSH payment (H.R. 3288) ICD-10

Client expense: $67,490 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) and Senate HELP Committee provisions related to interoperability and information blocking Urging release of funding for Ebola preparedness and treatment Support for Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Support for Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Support for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Support for Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Support for Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) Support for Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 (H.R. 270) Support for Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Support for Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Support for Two Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082) Support for Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Support for Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227) Protecting 340B Drug Pricing Program in regulatory and legislative proposals Opposing Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including those to Graduate Medical Education, bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Support for finalizing Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs (Meaningful Use) 2015-2017 Modifications Rule; support for delaying of Stage 3 Rule Urging Release of New York State Medicaid Vital Access Provider Program Funding Support for changes to liver transplant allocation system

Client expense: $200,000 · Firm income: Not reported

H.R. 2513/S. 1099 "PACE Act of 2015" - Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. H.R. 663/S.332 "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" - Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. Oppose the lowering of Medicare outpatient site neutral proposal rates. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset. Provided guidance on Medicare hospital payment reform legislative drafts: Medicare Crosswalk Hospital Code Development Act of 2015, Strengthening DSH and Medicare Through Subsidy Recapture and Payment Reform Act of 2015, Medicare Crosswalk IME Pool Act of 2015, and the Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act of 2015-under consideration by the House Ways and Means Committee. H.R. 2156, "Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015" supports legislation to improve Medicare audits and provided comments to Senate Finance Committee to improve draft legislation. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. CMS "2 Midnight" Policy - advocate for policy to allow for physician judgment on whether a patient should be considered inpatient or outpatient status, and other modifications to the policy. Meaningful Use - Advocate for reasonable Stage 3 meaningful use requirements as part of the EHR Incentive Program. Provided advocacy comments regarding a House Ways and Means discussion draft, the Hospital Improvements for Payment Act of 2014 concerning hospital payment, self-referral, quality, accreditation and data release issue. Worked to restore funding for AHRQ and CMMI in the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3020. Chronic Care -- provided comments and policy suggestions on Senate Finance Committee efforts to improve chronic care outcomes and treatments.

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act of 2015 (S. 258/H.R. 169) Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (S. 332/H.R. 663) Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 (S. 607/H.R. 672) Act to Reform Recover Audit Contractors (RACs) (H.R. 2156) Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act (S. 1648) Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R. 3225) Significant concerns with Iowa's proposed transition to Medicaid manged care Medicare reduction proposals in President Obama's budget released 2015 MedPAC recommendations for cuts to hospital payments avoiding site-neutral cuts recovery audit contractor (RAC) program and needed transparency and changes protecting critical access hospital funding and necessary provider status rural hospitals and access to care in Iowa encouraging value-based purchasing hospital acquired conditions and other quality measures Medicare formula and Iowa's payment compared to payments to other states Iowa hospital's economic impact to communities and the state beneficiary access throughout Iowa and threats from regulatory burdens and changes importance of 340B program to Iowa's hospitals sustainable growth rate fix and impact on hospitals in Iowa Meaningful use in EHR

Client expense: $65,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Health Care Reform Implementation 21st Century Cures Act, H.R. 6 Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) H.R. 270, Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015

Client expense: $120,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), SENATE

Area Wage Index Adjustment to hospitals' Medicare Reimbursements Technical correction regarding area wage index adjustment to hospitals' Medicare reimbursements in the FY2016 final inpatient PPS rule HR 2156, HR 663

Client expense: $10,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act of 2015 (S. 258/H.R. 169) Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act (S. 257/H.R. 1611) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (S. 332/H.R. 663) Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 (S. 607/H.R. 672) Medicare and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2) Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act (S. 1648) Trade Adjustment Assistance funding issue regarding use of sequestration to fund the program Proposed 2016 Hospice wage Index Rule Medicare reduction proposals in President Obama's budget released 2015 MedPAC recommendations for cuts to hospital payments avoiding site-neutral cuts recovery audit contractor (RAC) program and needed transparency and changes protecting critical access hospital funding and necessary provider status rural hospitals and access to care in Iowa encouraging value-based purchasing hospital acquired conditions and other quality measures Medicare formula and Iowa's payment compared to payments to other states Iowa hospital's economic impact to communities and the state beneficiary access throughout Iowa and threats from regulatory burdens and changes importance of 340B program to Iowa's hospitals sustainable growth rate fix and impact on hospitals in Iowa

Client expense: $80,000 · Firm income: Not reported

HALO letter sent to Congress about the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) for physician payment; Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, which provide incentives and penalties to encourage meaningful use of EHRs by hospitals and physicians and to extend non-enforcement instruction for the Medicare direct supervision requirement for therapeutic hospital outpatient services for CAHs and rural hospitals ; Meaningful use flexibilityadvocate for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support HR 2, Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and strengthen Medicare access by improving physician payments and making other improvements, to reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program; Support HR 1470, SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and improve Medicare payments for physicians and other professionals; Support S 629, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Oppose Recovery Audit Contracts (RACs)Section 3 that imposes financial penalties on RACs; Support ICD-10 delay and advocate to maintain the Oct. 1, 2015 transition date for ICD-10; Discussions to oppose site neutral payments. Provide input to CMS on implementation of quality measures required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014; Analyze and develop suggested changes to the Personalize Your Care Act of 2015, a bill that would provide coverage of voluntary advance care planning consultation under Medicare and Medicaid; Oppose HR 2895, Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015, a bill that would establish parity under the Medicare program for ambulatory cancer care services furnished in the hospital outpatient department and the physician office setting; Oppose HR 1295, Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015because the inclusion of the Medicare sequestration offset; Oppose HR 976 and HR 2513Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015(PACE) Act of 2015, a bill to allow an increase in, and expansion of, physician-owned hospitals eligible for Medicare reimbursement; Support S 1148 and HR 2124Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, a bill to increase the number of Medicare-supported physician residency slots; Urged SFC Chronic Care Working Group to consider expanding access to telehealth, removing legal barriers to clinical integration, and better engaging beneficiaries in their health and health care;Testified at the Observation status, Improving competition in Medicare and Prompt payment hearings; Support HR 2156, Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reform the practices of recovery audit contractors under the Medicare program, and for other purposes.

Health Care Reform Implementation 21st Century Cures Act, H.R. 6 Site Neutral payments Rural Hospital Access Act (S. 332/H.R. 663) H.R. 270, Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015

Client expense: $140,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), SENATE

Oppose efforts to repeal certain provisions the "PACE Act of 2015", H.R. 2513 -- relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests. Bad Debt Payments to Hospitals - Lawmakers have proposed lowering the amount of Medicare Bad Debt payments to hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries who fail to pay their cost-sharing obligations for treatments provided by the hospital. Direct and Indirect Graduate Medical Education Payments - Lawmakers have proposed changes to the way that hospitals are reimbursed for the costs of training physicians and other medical professionals. Advocate for the extension the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and current Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs. S.332, "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015" and H.R. 663, "Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015." Oppose the lowering of Medicare outpatients rates for Evaluation and Management visits in a hospital Support H.R. 2, "Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015" repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate for Physician payments in Medicare and CHIP reauthorization. Oppose the proposal of lowering Medicare reimbursements to Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Sequestration - against extending the Medicare Sequester and oppose Medicare sequester increase and extension as an offset to the TAA and other trade legislation. Advocate in support of reauthorization of funding for quality measure development, endorsement, pre-rulemaking review and recommendations, and collection of data analyzing measure implementation under MIPPA (P.L. 110-275, Section 1980 ) and ACA (P.L. 111-148, Section 3014) for the consensus-based entity (National Quality Forum). H.R. 2156, "Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015" supports legislation to improve Medicare audits and provided comments to Senate Finance Committee to improve draft legislation. Price Transparency - advocate for meaningful price transparency for consumers by ensuring they have access to out of pocket price information. CMS "2 Midnight" Policy - advocate for policy to allow for physician judgment on whether a patient should be considered inpatient or outpatient status, and other modifications to the policy. National Quality Forum -Advocated for inclusion of private-sector multi-stakeholder processes in development, endorsement and use of quality measures in federal payment programs under consideration. Meaningful Use - Advocate for reasonable Stage 3 meaningful use requirements as part of the EHR Incentive Program. Provided advocacy comments regarding a House Ways and Means discussion draft, the Hospital Improvements for Payment Act of 2014 concerning hospital payment, self-referral, quality, accreditation and data release issue. Worked to restore funding for AHRQ and CMMI in the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3020. Chronic Care -- provided comments and policy suggestions on Senate Finance Committee efforts to improve chronic care outcomes and treatments.

Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2) 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83) Funding for Ebola preparedness and treatment Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Protecting Access to Rural Therapies Act (H.R. 1611/S. 257) Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 (H.R. 270) Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 (H.R. 2124/ S. 1148) Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2156) Two Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082) Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227) Medicare physician fee schedule fix Medicare and Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Programs 340B Drug Pricing Program Funding for National Institutes of Health Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including Graduate Medical Education, bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, Medicare Dependent Hospital authorization, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs Medicaid, New York State Medicaid Vital Access Provider Program Liver transplant allocation system FFY 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule (CMS-1607-P) - Two-Midnight Policy

Client expense: $240,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Two Midnight Rule Socioeconomic adjustment of the hospital readmission reduction program (H.R. 1343/ S. 688) Medicare audit contractor program reforms (H.R. 2156, AFIRM Act) Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act (H.R. 270) Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2) Patient status notification (H.R. 876, S. 1349) Rural hospital policies (H.R. 663 / S. 332, H.R. 169 / S. 258, H.R. 1611 / S. 257, S. 1461 / H.R. 2878) Telehealth, interoperability (H.R. 6) Medicare Advantage (H.R. 2505, H.R. 2506, H.R. 2507, H.R. 2579, H.R. 2581) Physician self-referral (H.R. 2027, H.R. 976) Hospital Improvements for Payment Act Post Acute Care policies (H.R. 1458) Graduate Medical Education policy reforms (H.R. 2124, S. 1148) ICD-10

Client expense: $74,950 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

HALO letter sent to Congress about the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) for physician payment; Support HR 672 and S 607, Rural Community Hospital (RCH) Demonstration Extension Act of 2015, a bill that will extend the demonstration for five more years, will ensure that RCH continues to help Americas communities in many ways, especially by allowing hospitals to expand and improve the services rural communities need. Also enables hospitals with fewer than 51 beds to test the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement. Affects 23 small, rural hospitals nationwide. Demo included in MMA, extended and expanded in ACA and Budget neutral; Support HR 663 and S 332, Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015, a bill that would make permanent both the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program and the enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, which are vital programs for rural hospitals and the patients and communities they serve; Support S 257 and HR 1611, Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTs)Act of 2015, a bill that would provide hospitals relief from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations with respect to direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services; Support HR 270,Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, a bill that requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make a necessary adjustment to how it implements the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, which provide incentives and penalties to encourage meaningful use of EHRs by hospitals and physicians; Meaningful use flexibilityadvocate for a shorter meaningful use reporting period and other flexibilities that would increase hospitals ability to meet Stage 2 and move forward with the program; Support S. 377 and HR 745, Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase access to ambulance services under the Medicare program and to reform payments for such services under such program; Support S. 688 and HR 1343, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program to respond to patient disparities; Support HR 2, Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and strengthen Medicare access by improving physician payments and making other improvements, to reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program; Support HR 1470, SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and improve Medicare payments for physicians and other professionals; Support S 629, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act, a bill to enable hospital-based nursing programs that are affiliated with a hospital to maintain payments under the Medicare program to hospitals for the costs of such programs; Oppose Recovery Audit Contracts (RACs)Section 3 that imposes financial penalties on RACs -- top ask given contingency fees are a no go; Support ICD-10 delay and advocate to maintain the Oct. 1, 2015 transition date for ICD-10; Discussions to oppose site neutral payments.

Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2) Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83) Funding for Ebola preparedness and treatment Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act of 2015 (H.R. 1190 and S.141) Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 (H.R. 663/S. 332) Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 169/S. 258) Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act (H.R. 1343/S. 688) Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 (H.R. 270) Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2013 (H.R. 1180/ S. 577) Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2013 (H.R. 1250/ S.1012) Two Midnight Rule Delay Act (H.R. 3698)/Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2082) Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (S. 2359) Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools (MEND) Act (H.R. 5227) Medicare physician fee schedule fix Medicare and Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Programs Funding for National Institutes of Health Medicare and Medicaid Payment reductions, including Graduate Medical Education, bad debt payments, post-acute care payments, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments, CAH payments, IPPS coding offset, rural hospital payments, Medicare Dependent Hospital authorization, hospital outpatient department (HOPD) clinics, and sequestration. Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Payment Programs Medicaid, New York State Medicaid Vital Access Provider Program Liver transplant allocation system FFY 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule (CMS-1607-P) - Two-Midnight Policy

Client expense: $220,000 · Firm income: Not reported