A bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015.

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, legislation easing the shortage of psychiatric beds and extend and expand the CMS emergency psychiatric demonstration project; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with Members of Congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients;Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome; Discussed S.1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning treatment; Supported expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Urged that HHS refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals in discussion about member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official that were confusing during a health lawyers association webinar; Discussion with CMS staff regarding proposed rule on establishing market-based payments for clinical laboratory tests; Discussion to rescind the proposed 2 percent cut to CY 2016 outpatient PPS conversion factor; Support H.R.2948, Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases; Support HR 2646, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015,A bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis; Support HR 1604, Veterans Mental Health Care Access Act, a bill that expands access to mental health services for veterans; Support H.R. 3183, The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, a bill which makes significant improvements to the Veterans Choice Program; Support S 1189 The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act, a bill that reauthorizes the Conrad 30 and makes other changes to the program to improve patient access to care; Discussed quality measurement, meaningful use and Conditions of Participation; Conversation with CMS about the IOM Vital Signs report and how its recommendations could make quality measurement more meaningful; Spoke with CMS urging the Agency to correct the misimpression that was created statements made during a National Association of Medical Staff Specialists webinar by a CMS employee; Discussion with CMS about proposals contained in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility PPS proposed rule urging CMS not to finalize two quality measures; Meeting at CMMI to discuss CCJR; Discuss S. 2141the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology Act of 2015, the TRUST Act, a bill that includes a definition of information blocking and a framework to assess interoperability of certified health IT (a health IT ratings program); Support S.1461 and H.R. 2878 a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Oppose S. 1648 Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital ActTo establish an alternative payment model for CAHs and small, rural hospitals whereby they may transition to become a rural emergency hospital.; Oppose H.R. 3225 Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for enhanced payments to rural health care providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs; Discuss S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis. It would reauthorize certain federal mental health programs, revise the IMD exclusion, reform SAMHSA, and study parity in mental health laws. Support S. 1893, The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to reauthorize and improve programs related to mental health and substance use disorders; Letter asking for modifications to H.R. 3298 Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing (PAC VBP) Act of 2015, the legislation would establish a value-based purchasing program for LTCHs, IRFs, SNFs and HH agencies. Worked to streamline and improve quality measures; Discussed how to implement the framework in the National Academy of Medicines Vital Signs report to streamline and focus quality measures used in Medicare programs; Discussed Opioid prescribing guidelines with the CDC to provide feedback on the opioid prescribing guidelines they were developing; Discussion with CMS regarding CAH designation status, negative impact of Insurance Consolidations on Medicare Advantage and for modifications to Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model regarding aspects of the proposed rule; Discussion with CMS about the Emergency Preparedness final rule; Discussion with CMS regarding the 0.2 percent reduction to hospitals payments under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (PPS); Support S. 524, the Johnson amendment and the Collins amendment, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, a bill to authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; Support H.R. 4499, Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove consideration of certain pain-related issues from calculations under the Medicare hospital value-based purchasing program; Support S. 2220, The Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or Healthy MOM Act guarantees maternity coverage for women who are enrolled in the exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act, as well as women who are covered by individual and group insurance plans and federal employee health benefit plans; Comments to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees on how to improve the physician self-referral (Stark) law; Urged CMS to delay the April 2016 release of the hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Supported House and Senate letters urging CMS to delay release of hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Support H.R. 4771, Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, a bill that would reduce health care costs and promote access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans; Letter to Senate HELP Committee draft legislation addressing health information technology (IT) and electronic health records (EHRs); Comments to CMS regarding addressing section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Comments to House Energy & Commerce Committee regarding section 603 of the BBA of 2015 as well as site neutral payment policies in general; Statement for the record to House Energy & Commerce Committee on MACRA implementation; Statement for the record to Senate Finance Committee on MACRA implementation; Comments to the Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care document -Conversations with the CDC related to their opioid guidelines for chronic pain as well as a patient education piece about opioids; Discussions with CMS about CAH designation status Health Care Issues; Discussions with Rep. Hudson about H.R. 4365/ S. 2932, the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act , a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act with regard to the provision of emergency medical services; Support H.R. 4650 and S. 2108, Preserving Patient Access to Post-Acute Hospital Care Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of certain Medicare long-term care hospital payment rules; Supported efforts to encourage Congress to send CMS letters on addressing the issue of colocation of facilities within a hospital; Discussions with Members of Congress on the potential implementation of Unique Device Identification on claims forms; Sponsored a Hill briefing on innovations in post-acute care;Supported House and Senate letters to CMS asking for flexibility when interpreting section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Support HR 5547, the Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2016, a bill to require the sharing of health care price information; Support HR 5273, the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016, a bill to address outstanding issues with section 603 of the BBA of 2015 and provide for a socioeconomic adjustment to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program; Supported a letter to CMS on implementation of Sec. 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Acts site neutral cuts for off-campus HOPDs; Support H. res. 699 promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2016; Support H.R.4641 - a bill to provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication; Support H.R. 4982, the Examining Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Act of 2016, a bill which would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate and report on the capacity, availability and need for inpatient and outpatient treatment for opioid use disorders in the United States; Supports H.R. 3680, the Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act of 2015, a bill would establish federal grants to carry out co-prescribing of overdose reversal drugs in areas experiencing significant numbers of opioid overdoses and deaths; Support H.R. 3691, the Improving Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Act of 2015, a bill that would reauthorize essential residential treatment programs for pregnant and postpartum women and provide grants to states to address the growing epidemic of infants suffering from opioid dependency; Support H.R. 4978, the Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act, a bill which would require a GAO evaluation of neonatal abstinence syndrome and the availability of treatment for this condition in the nations Medicaid programs; Support H.R. 4599, the Reducing Unused Medications Act of 2016, a bill to permit partial filling of schedule II prescriptions under specific circumstances; Support H.R. 4976, the Opioid Review Modernization Act of 2016, a bill which would provide for more stringent Food and Drug Administration review of new opioids without abuse-deterrent properties, recommendations for labeling of pediatric opioids, and recommendations for prescriber education; Support the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act of 2016, a bill for achieving fair and sustainable drug pricing; Supporting full alignment of 42CFR substance use records confidentiality requirements with HIPAA privacy rule; Support S. 3173 EHR Regulatory Relief Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a 90-day EHR reporting period for the determination of whether an eligible professional or eligible hospital is a meaningful EHR user and to remove the all-or-nothing approach to meaningful use; Support for H.R. 5713, The Sustaining Healthcare Integrity and Fair Treatment Act of 2016, a bill that would extend 25% rule relief and provide targeted relief to certain LTCHs struggling to meet the new criteria standards; Support for H.R. 6174, the Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title.

Client expense: $4,970,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, legislation easing the shortage of psychiatric beds and extend and expand the CMS emergency psychiatric demonstration project; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with Members of Congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients;Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome; Discussed S.1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning treatment; Supported expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Urged that HHS refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals in discussion about member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official that were confusing during a health lawyers association webinar; Discussion with CMS staff regarding proposed rule on establishing market-based payments for clinical laboratory tests; Discussion to rescind the proposed 2 percent cut to CY 2016 outpatient PPS conversion factor; Support H.R.2948, Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases; Support HR 2646, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015,A bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis; Support HR 1604, Veterans Mental Health Care Access Act, a bill that expands access to mental health services for veterans; Support H.R. 3183, The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, a bill which makes significant improvements to the Veterans Choice Program; Support S 1189 The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act, a bill that reauthorizes the Conrad 30 and makes other changes to the program to improve patient access to care; Discussed quality measurement, meaningful use and Conditions of Participation; Conversation with CMS about the IOM Vital Signs report and how its recommendations could make quality measurement more meaningful; Spoke with CMS urging the Agency to correct the misimpression that was created statements made during a National Association of Medical Staff Specialists webinar by a CMS employee; Discussion with CMS about proposals contained in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility PPS proposed rule urging CMS not to finalize two quality measures; Meeting at CMMI to discuss CCJR; Discuss S. 2141the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology Act of 2015, the TRUST Act, a bill that includes a definition of information blocking and a framework to assess interoperability of certified health IT (a health IT ratings program); Support S.1461 and H.R. 2878 a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Oppose S. 1648 Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital ActTo establish an alternative payment model for CAHs and small, rural hospitals whereby they may transition to become a rural emergency hospital.; Oppose H.R. 3225 Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for enhanced payments to rural health care providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs; Discuss S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis. It would reauthorize certain federal mental health programs, revise the IMD exclusion, reform SAMHSA, and study parity in mental health laws. Support S. 1893, The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to reauthorize and improve programs related to mental health and substance use disorders; Letter asking for modifications to H.R. 3298 Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing (PAC VBP) Act of 2015, the legislation would establish a value-based purchasing program for LTCHs, IRFs, SNFs and HH agencies. Worked to streamline and improve quality measures; Discussed how to implement the framework in the National Academy of Medicines Vital Signs report to streamline and focus quality measures used in Medicare programs; Discussed Opioid prescribing guidelines with the CDC to provide feedback on the opioid prescribing guidelines they were developing; Discussion with CMS regarding CAH designation status, negative impact of Insurance Consolidations on Medicare Advantage and for modifications to Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model regarding aspects of the proposed rule; Discussion with CMS about the Emergency Preparedness final rule; Discussion with CMS regarding the 0.2 percent reduction to hospitals payments under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (PPS); Support S. 524, the Johnson amendment and the Collins amendment, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, a bill to authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; Support H.R. 4499, Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove consideration of certain pain-related issues from calculations under the Medicare hospital value-based purchasing program; Support S. 2220, The Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or Healthy MOM Act guarantees maternity coverage for women who are enrolled in the exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act, as well as women who are covered by individual and group insurance plans and federal employee health benefit plans; Comments to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees on how to improve the physician self-referral (Stark) law; Urged CMS to delay the April 2016 release of the hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Supported House and Senate letters urging CMS to delay release of hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Support H.R. 4771, Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, a bill that would reduce health care costs and promote access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans; Letter to Senate HELP Committee draft legislation addressing health information technology (IT) and electronic health records (EHRs); Comments to CMS regarding addressing section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Comments to House Energy & Commerce Committee regarding section 603 of the BBA of 2015 as well as site neutral payment policies in general; Statement for the record to House Energy & Commerce Committee on MACRA implementation; Statement for the record to Senate Finance Committee on MACRA implementation; Comments to the Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care document -Conversations with the CDC related to their opioid guidelines for chronic pain as well as a patient education piece about opioids; Discussions with CMS about CAH designation status Health Care Issues; Discussions with Rep. Hudson about H.R. 4365/ S. 2932, the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act , a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act with regard to the provision of emergency medical services; Support H.R. 4650 and S. 2108, Preserving Patient Access to Post-Acute Hospital Care Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of certain Medicare long-term care hospital payment rules; Supported efforts to encourage Congress to send CMS letters on addressing the issue of colocation of facilities within a hospital; Discussions with Members of Congress on the potential implementation of Unique Device Identification on claims forms; Sponsored a Hill briefing on innovations in post-acute care;Supported House and Senate letters to CMS asking for flexibility when interpreting section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Support HR 5547, the Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2016, a bill to require the sharing of health care price information; Support HR 5273, the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016, a bill to address outstanding issues with section 603 of the BBA of 2015 and provide for a socioeconomic adjustment to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program; Supported a letter to CMS on implementation of Sec. 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Acts site neutral cuts for off-campus HOPDs; Support H. res. 699 promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2016; Support H.R.4641 - a bill to provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication; Support H.R. 4982, the Examining Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Act of 2016, a bill which would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate and report on the capacity, availability and need for inpatient and outpatient treatment for opioid use disorders in the United States; Supports H.R. 3680, the Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act of 2015, a bill would establish federal grants to carry out co-prescribing of overdose reversal drugs in areas experiencing significant numbers of opioid overdoses and deaths; Support H.R. 3691, the Improving Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Act of 2015, a bill that would reauthorize essential residential treatment programs for pregnant and postpartum women and provide grants to states to address the growing epidemic of infants suffering from opioid dependency; Support H.R. 4978, the Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act, a bill which would require a GAO evaluation of neonatal abstinence syndrome and the availability of treatment for this condition in the nations Medicaid programs; Support H.R. 4599, the Reducing Unused Medications Act of 2016, a bill to permit partial filling of schedule II prescriptions under specific circumstances; Support H.R. 4976, the Opioid Review Modernization Act of 2016, a bill which would provide for more stringent Food and Drug Administration review of new opioids without abuse-deterrent properties, recommendations for labeling of pediatric opioids, and recommendations for prescriber education; Support the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act of 2016, a bill for achieving fair and sustainable drug pricing; Supporting full alignment of 42CFR substance use records confidentiality requirements with HIPAA privacy rule; Support S. 3173 EHR Regulatory Relief Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a 90-day EHR reporting period for the determination of whether an eligible professional or eligible hospital is a meaningful EHR user and to remove the all-or-nothing approach to meaningful use; Support for H.R. 5713, The Sustaining Healthcare Integrity and Fair Treatment Act of 2016, a bill that would extend 25% rule relief and provide targeted relief to certain LTCHs struggling to meet the new criteria standards; Support for H.R. 6174, the Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title.

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

Legislation and policies related to: Physician/nurse practitioner reimbursement Provisions of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) Adoption of recommendations of the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health Medicare Shared Savings Program beneficiary assignment requirements Medicare-Medicaid hospital conditions of participation Evaluation of the Medicare Graduate Nurse Education demonstration Medicare-Medicaid Program Integrity policies Medicaid maintenance of effort requirements Medicaid eligibility expansion and state options Medicaid waiver application procedures Medicaid per capita cap policy options Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible coverage and demonstration Draft Hospital Improvement for Payment (HIP) Act HHS study on the comparability of CHIP coverage and benefits with those of marketplace health plans Medicare provisions of H.R. 1892, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act H.R. 2 - Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act H.R. 160/S. 149 - Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 546/S. 298 - Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) Act H.R. 700 - Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act H.R. 818/S. 861 - Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act H.R. 876 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act H.R. 919 - CHIP Extension and Improvement Act H.R. 1021 - Protecting Integrity of Medicare Act (PIMA) H.R. 1190/S. 141 - Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act H.R. 1362 - Medicaid Requiring Expenditures for Public Objectives to be Reflective of Total Spending (Medicaid REPORTS) Act H.R. 1458 - Bundling and Coordinating Post-Acute Care (BACPAC) Act H.R. 1470 - SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act H.R. 2339 - To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the treatment of lottery winnings and other lump sum income for purposes of income eligibility under the Medicaid program H.R. 3014 - Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act H.R. 3134 - Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 H.R. 3292 - Medicare IME Pool Act H.R. 3298 - Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act H.R. 3716 - Ensuring Terminated Providers Are Removed From Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3821/S. 2618 - Medicaid Directory of Caregivers (Medicaid DOC) Act H.R. 4588 - Incentivizing Medicaid Expansion Act of 2016 H.R. 4725 - Common Sense Savings Act of 2016 H.R. 5164 - Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act H.R. 5210/S. 2736 - Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act H.R. 5273 - Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 H.R. 5613/S. 3129 - Continuing Access to Hospitals Act of 2016 S. 257/H.R. 1611 - Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act S. 578/H.R. 1342 - Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act S. 737/H.R. 2253 - Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act S. 1349 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act S. 1456 - Rural ACO Improvement Act S. 1461 - Extending a moratorium on enforcement of direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015 S. 2425 - Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act S. 2787 - States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act S. 3130 - Independence at Home Act of 2016

Legislation and policies related to: Physician/nurse practitioner reimbursement Provisions of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) Adoption of recommendations of the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health Medicare Shared Savings Program beneficiary assignment requirements Medicare-Medicaid hospital conditions of participation Evaluation of the Medicare Graduate Nurse Education demonstration Medicare-Medicaid Program Integrity policies Medicaid maintenance of effort requirements Medicaid eligibility expansion and state options Medicaid waiver application procedures Medicaid per capita cap policy options Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible coverage and demonstration Draft Hospital Improvement for Payment (HIP) Act HHS study on the comparability of CHIP coverage and benefits with those of marketplace health plans Medicare provisions of H.R. 1892, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act H.R. 2 - Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act H.R. 160/S. 149 - Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 546/S. 298 - Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) Act H.R. 700 - Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act H.R. 818/S. 861 - Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act H.R. 876 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act H.R. 919 - CHIP Extension and Improvement Act H.R. 1021 - Protecting Integrity of Medicare Act (PIMA) H.R. 1190/S. 141 - Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act H.R. 1362 - Medicaid Requiring Expenditures for Public Objectives to be Reflective of Total Spending (Medicaid REPORTS) Act H.R. 1458 - Bundling and Coordinating Post-Acute Care (BACPAC) Act H.R. 1470 - SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act H.R. 2339 - To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the treatment of lottery winnings and other lump sum income for purposes of income eligibility under the Medicaid program H.R. 3014 - Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act H.R. 3134 - Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 H.R. 3292 - Medicare IME Pool Act H.R. 3298 - Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act H.R. 3716 - Ensuring Terminated Providers Are Removed From Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3821/S. 2618 - Medicaid Directory of Caregivers (Medicaid DOC) Act H.R. 4588 - Incentivizing Medicaid Expansion Act of 2016 H.R. 4725 - Common Sense Savings Act of 2016 H.R. 5164 - Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act H.R. 5273 - Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 S. 257/H.R. 1611 - Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act S. 578/H.R. 1342 - Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act S. 737/H.R. 2253 - Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act S. 1349 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act S. 1456 - Rural ACO Improvement Act S. 1461 - Extending a moratorium on enforcement of direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015 S. 2425 - Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act S. 2787 - States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, legislation easing the shortage of psychiatric beds and extend and expand the CMS emergency psychiatric demonstration project; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with Members of Congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients;Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome; Discussed S.1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning treatment; Supported expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Urged that HHS refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals in discussion about member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official that were confusing during a health lawyers association webinar; Discussion with CMS staff regarding proposed rule on establishing market-based payments for clinical laboratory tests; Discussion to rescind the proposed 2 percent cut to CY 2016 outpatient PPS conversion factor; Support H.R.2948, Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases; Support HR 2646, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015,A bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis; Support HR 1604, Veterans Mental Health Care Access Act, a bill that expands access to mental health services for veterans; Support H.R. 3183, The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, a bill which makes significant improvements to the Veterans Choice Program; Support S 1189 The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act, a bill that reauthorizes the Conrad 30 and makes other changes to the program to improve patient access to care; Discussed quality measurement, meaningful use and Conditions of Participation; Conversation with CMS about the IOM Vital Signs report and how its recommendations could make quality measurement more meaningful; Spoke with CMS urging the Agency to correct the misimpression that was created statements made during a National Association of Medical Staff Specialists webinar by a CMS employee; Discussion with CMS about proposals contained in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility PPS proposed rule urging CMS not to finalize two quality measures; Meeting at CMMI to discuss CCJR; Discuss S. 2141the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology Act of 2015, the TRUST Act, a bill that includes a definition of information blocking and a framework to assess interoperability of certified health IT (a health IT ratings program); Support S.1461 and H.R. 2878 a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Oppose S. 1648 Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital ActTo establish an alternative payment model for CAHs and small, rural hospitals whereby they may transition to become a rural emergency hospital.; Oppose H.R. 3225 Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for enhanced payments to rural health care providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs; Discuss S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis. It would reauthorize certain federal mental health programs, revise the IMD exclusion, reform SAMHSA, and study parity in mental health laws. Support S. 1893, The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to reauthorize and improve programs related to mental health and substance use disorders; Letter asking for modifications to H.R. 3298 Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing (PAC VBP) Act of 2015, the legislation would establish a value-based purchasing program for LTCHs, IRFs, SNFs and HH agencies. Worked to streamline and improve quality measures; Discussed how to implement the framework in the National Academy of Medicines Vital Signs report to streamline and focus quality measures used in Medicare programs; Discussed Opioid prescribing guidelines with the CDC to provide feedback on the opioid prescribing guidelines they were developing; Discussion with CMS regarding CAH designation status, negative impact of Insurance Consolidations on Medicare Advantage and for modifications to Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model regarding aspects of the proposed rule; Discussion with CMS about the Emergency Preparedness final rule; Discussion with CMS regarding the 0.2 percent reduction to hospitals payments under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (PPS); Support S. 524, the Johnson amendment and the Collins amendment, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, a bill to authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; Support H.R. 4499, Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove consideration of certain pain-related issues from calculations under the Medicare hospital value-based purchasing program; Support S. 2220, The Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or Healthy MOM Act guarantees maternity coverage for women who are enrolled in the exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act, as well as women who are covered by individual and group insurance plans and federal employee health benefit plans; Comments to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees on how to improve the physician self-referral (Stark) law; Urged CMS to delay the April 2016 release of the hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Supported House and Senate letters urging CMS to delay release of hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Support H.R. 4771, Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, a bill that would reduce health care costs and promote access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans; Letter to Senate HELP Committee draft legislation addressing health information technology (IT) and electronic health records (EHRs); Comments to CMS regarding addressing section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Comments to House Energy & Commerce Committee regarding section 603 of the BBA of 2015 as well as site neutral payment policies in general; Statement for the record to House Energy & Commerce Committee on MACRA implementation; Statement for the record to Senate Finance Committee on MACRA implementation; Comments to the Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care document -Conversations with the CDC related to their opioid guidelines for chronic pain as well as a patient education piece about opioids; Discussions with CMS about CAH designation status Health Care Issues; Discussions with Rep. Hudson about H.R. 4365/ S. 2932, the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act , a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act with regard to the provision of emergency medical services; Support H.R. 4650 and S. 2108, Preserving Patient Access to Post-Acute Hospital Care Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of certain Medicare long-term care hospital payment rules; Supported efforts to encourage Congress to send CMS letters on addressing the issue of colocation of facilities within a hospital; Discussions with Members of Congress on the potential implementation of Unique Device Identification on claims forms; Sponsored a Hill briefing on innovations in post-acute care;Supported House and Senate letters to CMS asking for flexibility when interpreting section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Support HR 5547, the Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2016, a bill to require the sharing of health care price information; Support HR 5273, the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016, a bill to address outstanding issues with section 603 of the BBA of 2015 and provide for a socioeconomic adjustment to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program; Supported a letter to CMS on implementation of Sec. 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Acts site neutral cuts for off-campus HOPDs; Support H. res. 699 promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2016; Support H.R.4641 - a bill to provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication; Support H.R. 4982, the Examining Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Act of 2016, a bill which would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate and report on the capacity, availability and need for inpatient and outpatient treatment for opioid use disorders in the United States; Supports H.R. 3680, the Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act of 2015, a bill would establish federal grants to carry out co-prescribing of overdose reversal drugs in areas experiencing significant numbers of opioid overdoses and deaths; Support H.R. 3691, the Improving Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Act of 2015, a bill that would reauthorize essential residential treatment programs for pregnant and postpartum women and provide grants to states to address the growing epidemic of infants suffering from opioid dependency; Support H.R. 4978, the Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act, a bill which would require a GAO evaluation of neonatal abstinence syndrome and the availability of treatment for this condition in the nations Medicaid programs; Support H.R. 4599, the Reducing Unused Medications Act of 2016, a bill to permit partial filling of schedule II prescriptions under specific circumstances; Support H.R. 4976, the Opioid Review Modernization Act of 2016, a bill which would provide for more stringent Food and Drug Administration review of new opioids without abuse-deterrent properties, recommendations for labeling of pediatric opioids, and recommendations for prescriber education; Support the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act of 2016, a bill for achieving fair and sustainable drug pricing; Supporting full alignment of 42CFR substance use records confidentiality requirements with HIPAA privacy rule.

S.2511 Improving Health Information Technology Act H.R. 6 21st Century Cures Act H.R 5447/S. 3060 Small Business Health Care Relief Act of 2016 S. 2744 Genetic Research Privacy Protection Act H.R. 5273 Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act S. 2713 Advancing Precision Medicine Act S. 1878 The Advancing Hope Act S. 1767 Combination Products Innovation Act S. 1077 Advancing Breakthrough Medical Devices for Patients Act S. 2512 Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review voucher Program Act S. 1101 Medical Electronic Data Technology Enhancement for Consumers Health Act S. 1597 Patient Focused Impact Assessment Act S. 2055 Medical Countermeasures Innovation Act S. 2873 Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes (ECHO) Act H.R. 3081/ S. 1778 TELEmedicine for MEDicare (TELE-MED) Act H.R. 4442/S. 2484 CONNECT for Health Act H.R. 1192 National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act S. 620, H.R. 1189 Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act H.R. 4878 Better Care, Lower Cost Act H.R. 5273 Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act H.R. 4774 Training Tomorrows Doctors Today Act S. 2671, H.R.4732 Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act S. 314, H.R. 592 Pharmacy and Medically and Underserved Areas Enhancement Act H.R.1314 Bipartisan Budget Act H.R. 1190/S. 141 Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act H.R. 160/S. 149 Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 4732/ S. 2671 Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act H.R. 2061, Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act H.R. 2446 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require the use of electronic visit verification for personal care services furnished under the Medicaid program, and for other purposes. H.R. 2603/S. 1475 Saving Lives, Saving Costs Act H.R. 2646 Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act H.R. 2704/H.R. 4212/S.704 Community Based Independence for Seniors Act H.R. 2878/S. 1461 To provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015. H.R.2911/S. 1697 Small Business Healthcare Relief Act H.R. 3539 Reinvigorating Antibiotic and Diagnostic Innovation (READI) Act H.R. 3660 Preventive Health Savings Act H.R. 3716 Ensuring Terminated Providers are Removed from Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3762 Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act H.R. 3821 Medicaid Directory of Caregivers Act H.R. 5380 Telehealth Parity Act S. 139 Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act S. 2023 Prescription Drug Affordability Act S. 2030 Advancing Targeted Therapies for Rare Diseases Act S. 2045 Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act S. 2075 American Worker Health Care Tax Relief Act S. 2153 Provider Payment Sunshine Act S. 2187 FDA Regulatory Efficiency Act S. 754 Cyber security Information Sharing Act (CISA) S.2104 Preserving Medicare Advantage for all Medicare Beneficiaries Act

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

Legislation and policies related to: Physician/nurse practitioner reimbursement Provisions of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) Adoption of recommendations of the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health Medicare Shared Savings Program beneficiary assignment requirements Medicare-Medicaid hospital conditions of participation Evaluation of the Medicare Graduate Nurse Education demonstration Medicare-Medicaid Program Integrity policies Medicaid maintenance of effort requirements Medicaid eligibility expansion and state options Medicaid waiver application procedures Medicaid per capita cap policy options Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible coverage and demonstration Draft Hospital Improvement for Payment (HIP) Act HHS study on the comparability of CHIP coverage and benefits with those of marketplace health plans Medicare provisions of H.R. 1892, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act H.R. 2 - Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act H.R. 160/S. 149 - Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 546/S. 298 - Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) Act H.R. 700 - Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act H.R. 818/S. 861 - Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act H.R. 876 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act H.R. 919 - CHIP Extension and Improvement Act H.R. 1021 - Protecting Integrity of Medicare Act (PIMA) H.R. 1190/S. 141 - Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act H.R. 1362 - Medicaid Requiring Expenditures for Public Objectives to be Reflective of Total Spending (Medicaid REPORTS) Act H.R. 1458 - Bundling and Coordinating Post-Acute Care (BACPAC) Act H.R. 1470 - SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act H.R. 2339 - To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the treatment of lottery winnings and other lump sum income for purposes of income eligibility under the Medicaid program H.R. 3014 - Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act H.R. 3134 - Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 H.R. 3292 - Medicare IME Pool Act H.R. 3298 - Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act H.R. 3716 - Ensuring Terminated Providers Are Removed From Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3821/S. 2618 - Medicaid Directory of Caregivers (Medicaid DOC) Act H.R. 4588 - Incentivizing Medicaid Expansion Act of 2016 H.R. 4725 - Common Sense Savings Act of 2016 S. 257/H.R. 1611 - Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act S. 578/H.R. 1342 - Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act S. 737/H.R. 2253 - Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act S. 1349 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act S. 1456 - Rural ACO Improvement Act S. 1461 - Extending a moratorium on enforcement of direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015 S. 2425 - Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, legislation easing the shortage of psychiatric beds and extend and expand the CMS emergency psychiatric demonstration project; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with Members of Congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients;Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome; Discussed S.1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning treatment; Supported expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Urged that HHS refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals in discussion about member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official that were confusing during a health lawyers association webinar; Discussion with CMS staff regarding proposed rule on establishing market-based payments for clinical laboratory tests; Discussion to rescind the proposed 2 percent cut to CY 2016 outpatient PPS conversion factor; Support H.R.2948, Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases; Support HR 2646, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015,A bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis;Spoke with Rep. Kinds office on legislation to address the opioid epidemic in America; Support HR 1604, Veterans Mental Health Care Access Act, a bill that expands access to mental health services for veterans; Support H.R. 3183, The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, a bill which makes significant improvements to the Veterans Choice Program; Support S 1189 The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act, a bill that reauthorizes the Conrad 30 and makes other changes to the program to improve patient access to care; Discussed quality measurement, meaningful use and Conditions of Participation; Conversation with CMS about the IOM Vital Signs report and how its recommendations could make quality measurement more meaningful; Spoke with CMS urging the Agency to correct the misimpression that was created statements made during a National Association of Medical Staff Specialists webinar by a CMS employee; Discussion with CMS about proposals contained in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility PPS proposed rule urging CMS not to finalize two quality measures; Meeting at CMMI to discuss CCJR; Discuss S. 2141the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology Act of 2015, the TRUST Act, a bill that includes a definition of information blocking and a framework to assess interoperability of certified health IT (a health IT ratings program); Support S.1461 and H.R. 2878 a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Oppose S. 1648 Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital ActTo establish an alternative payment model for CAHs and small, rural hospitals whereby they may transition to become a rural emergency hospital.; Oppose H.R. 3225 Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for enhanced payments to rural health care providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs; Discuss S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis. It would reauthorize certain federal mental health programs, revise the IMD exclusion, reform SAMHSA, and study parity in mental health laws. Support S. 1893, The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to reauthorize and improve programs related to mental health and substance use disorders; Letter asking for modifications to H.R. 3298 Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing (PAC VBP) Act of 2015, the legislation would establish a value-based purchasing program for LTCHs, IRFs, SNFs and HH agencies. Worked to streamline and improve quality measures; Discussed how to implement the framework in the National Academy of Medicines Vital Signs report to streamline and focus quality measures used in Medicare programs; Discussed Opioid prescribing guidelines with the CDC to provide feedback on the opioid prescribing guidelines they were developing; Discussion with CMS regarding CAH designation status, negative impact of Insurance Consolidations on Medicare Advantage and for modifications to Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model regarding aspects of the proposed rule; Discussion with CMS about the Emergency Preparedness final rule; Discussion with CMS regarding the 0.2 percent reduction to hospitals payments under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (PPS); Support S. 524, the Johnson amendment and the Collins amendment, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, a bill to authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; Support H.R. 4499, Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove consideration of certain pain-related issues from calculations under the Medicare hospital value-based purchasing program; Support S. 2220, The Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or Healthy MOM Act guarantees maternity coverage for women who are enrolled in the exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act, as well as women who are covered by individual and group insurance plans and federal employee health benefit plans; Comments to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees on how to improve the physician self-referral (Stark) law; Urged CMS to delay the April 2016 release of the hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Supported House and Senate letters urging CMS to delay release of hospital star ratings on the Hospital Compare Website; Support H.R. 4771, Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, a bill that would reduce health care costs and promote access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans; Comments on Senate HELP Committee draft legislation addressing health information technology (IT) and electronic health records (EHRs); Comments to CMS regarding addressing section 603 of the BBA of 2015 in regulation; Comments to House Energy & Commerce Committee regarding section 603 of the BBA of 2015 as well as site neutral payment policies in general; Statement for the record to House Energy & Commerce Committee on MACRA implementation; Comments to the Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care document -Conversations with the CDC related to their opioid guidelines for chronic pain as well as a patient education piece about opioids; Discussions with CMS about CAH designation status Health Care Issues; Discussions with Rep. Hudson about H.R. 4365, the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act , a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act with regard to the provision of emergency medical services; Support H.R. 4650 and S. 2108, Preserving Patient Access to Post-Acute Hospital Care Act of 2016, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of certain Medicare long-term care hospital payment rules; Supported efforts to encourage Congress to send CMS letters on addressing the issue of colocation of facilities within a hospital; Discussions with Members of Congress on the potential implementation of Unique Device Identification on claims forms; Sponsored a Hill briefing on innovations in post-acute care.

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

.R. 1020 STEM Education Act H.R. 1190/S. 141 Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act H.R. 1314 Bipartisan Budget Act H.R. 160/S. 149 Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 1624/S. 1099, Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act (PACE Act) H.R. 2061, Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act H.R. 2446 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require the use of electronic visit verification for personal care services furnished under the Medicaid program, and for other purposes. H.R. 2603/S. 1475 Saving Lives, Saving Costs Act H.R. 2646 Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act H.R. 4212/S.704 Community Based Independence for Seniors Act H.R. 2745/S. 2102 Standard Mergers & Acquisitions Review Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act H.R. 2878/S. 1461 To provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015. H.R. 2911/S. 1697 Small Business Healthcare Relief Act H.R. 292/S. 2260 Long-Term Studies of Comprehensive Outcomes and Returns for the Economy Act (Long-Term SCORE Act) H.R. 3081/S. 1778 TELEmedicine for MEDicare (TELE-MED) Act H.R. 3539 Reinvigorating Antibiotic and Diagnostic Innovation (READI) Act H.R. 3660 Preventive Health Savings Act H.R. 3716 Ensuring Terminated Providers are Removed from Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3762 Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act H.R. 4469/S.2499 Health Savings Act of 2016 H.R. 4723 Protecting Taxpayers by Recovering Improper Obamacare Subsidy Overpayments Act H.R. 4725 Common Sense Savings Act H.R. 4732/S.2671 Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act H.R. 4771 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare Act H.R. 4774 Training Tomorrows Doctors Today Act H.R. 4801 Medical Loss Ratio Accountability Act of 2016 H.R. 4832 Health Savings Protection Act H.R. 4848 Healthy Inpatient Procedures (HIP) Act H.R. 4878 Better Care, Lower Cost Act H.R. 5380 Telehealth Parity Act H.R. 6 21st Century Cures Act H.R.4442/S.2484 CONNECT for Health Act S. 1077 Advancing Breakthrough Medical Devices for Patients Act S. 1101 Medical Electronic Data Technology Enhancement for Consumers Health (MEDTECH) Act S. 139 Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act S. 1622 FDA Device Accountability Act S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 S. 2023 Prescription Drug Affordability Act S. 2030 Advancing Targeted Therapies for Rare Diseases Act S. 2045 Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act S. 2075 American Worker Health Care Tax Relief Act S. 2153 Provider Payment Sunshine Act S. 2187 FDA Regulatory Efficiency Act S. 2343 Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act S. 2511 Improving Health Information Technology Act S. 2680 Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 S. 2698 Preserving Consumer Health Accounts Act of 2016 S. 2713 Advancing Precision Medicine Act S. 754 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) S. 1101, the Medical Electronic Data Technology Enhancement for Consumers Health (MEDTECH) Act S. 1077, the Advancing Breakthrough Medical Devices for Patients Act. S. 1622, the FDA Device Accountability Act S. 2511, the Improving Health Information Technology Act S. 2680, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 S. 2713, the Advancing Precision Medicine Act

Legislation and policies related to: Physician/nurse practitioner reimbursement Provisions of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) Adoption of recommendations of the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health Medicare Shared Savings Program beneficiary assignment requirements Medicare-Medicaid hospital conditions of participation Evaluation of the Medicare Graduate Nurse Education demonstration Medicare-Medicaid Program Integrity policies Medicaid maintenance of effort requirements Medicaid eligibility expansion and state options Medicaid waiver application procedures Medicaid per capita cap policy options Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible coverage and demonstration Draft Hospital Improvement for Payment (HIP) Act HHS study on the comparability of CHIP coverage and benefits with those of marketplace health plans Medicare provisions of H.R. 1892, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act H.R. 2 - Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act H.R. 160/S. 149 - Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 546/S. 298 - Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) Act H.R. 700 - Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act H.R. 818/S. 861 - Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act H.R. 876 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act H.R. 919 - CHIP Extension and Improvement Act H.R. 1021 - Protecting Integrity of Medicare Act (PIMA) H.R. 1190/S. 141 - Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act H.R. 1362 - Medicaid Requiring Expenditures for Public Objectives to be Reflective of Total Spending (Medicaid REPORTS) Act H.R. 2151 - Improving Oversight and Accountability in Medicaid Non-DSH Supplemental Payments Act H.R. 1458 - Bundling and Coordinating Post-Acute Care (BACPAC) Act H.R. 1470 - SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act H.R. 2339 - To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the treatment of lottery winnings and other lump sum income for purposes of income eligibility under the Medicaid program H.R. 3014 - Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act H.R. 3134 - Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 H.R. 3292 - Medicare IME Pool Act H.R. 3298 - Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act H.R. 3716 - Ensuring Terminated Providers Are Removed From Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3821 - Medicaid Directory of Caregivers (Medicaid DOC) Act S. 257/H.R. 1611 - Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act S. 578/H.R. 1342 - Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act S. 737/H.R. 2253 - Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act S. 1349 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act S. 1456 - Rural ACO Improvement Act S. 1461 - Extending a moratorium on enforcement of direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015 S. 2425 - Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, it is a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, legislation easing the shortage of psychiatric beds and extend and expand the CMS emergency psychiatric demonstration project; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with members of congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients; Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome;Discussed S. 1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning; Supported expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund; Support the H.R. 2745, Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER Act), a bill to provide that the Federal Trade Commission shall exercise authority with respect to mergers only under the Clayton Act and only in the same procedural manner as the Attorney General exercises such authority; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Support HR 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act (MEND 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 that HHS refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals in discussion about member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official that were confusing during a health lawyers association webinar; Discussion with CMS staff regarding proposed rule on establishing market-based payments for clinical laboratory tests; Discussion to rescind the proposed 2 percent cut to CY 2016 outpatient PPS conversion factor; Support H.R.2948 Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases; Comment on HR 2646, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015,A bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis;Spoke with Rep. Kinds office on legislation to address the opioid epidemic in America; Support HR 1604, Veterans Mental Health Care Access Act, a bill that expands access to mental health services for veterans; Support H.R. 3183, The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, a bill which makes significant improvements to the Veterans Choice Program; Testified at three Insurance Consolidation Hearings to discuss the impact of the proposed acquisitions involving Aetna/ Humana and Anthem/Cigna; Support S 1189 The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act, a bill that reauthorizes the Conrad 30 and makes other changes to the program to improve patient access to care; Discussed quality measurement, meaningful use and Conditions of Participation; Conversation with CMS about the IOM Vital Signs report and how its recommendations could make quality measurement more meaningful; Spoke with CMS urging the Agency to correct the misimpression that was created statements made during a National Association of Medical Staff Specialists webinar by a CMS employee; Discussion with CMS about proposals contained in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility PPS proposed rule urging CMS not to finalize two quality measures; Meeting at CMMI to discuss CCJR; Discuss S. 2141the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology Act of 2015, the TRUST Act, a bill that includes a definition of information blocking and a framework to assess interoperability of certified health IT (a health IT ratings program); Support S.1461 and H.R. 2878 a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Oppose S. 1648 Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital ActTo establish an alternative payment model for CAHs and small, rural hospitals whereby they may transition to become a rural emergency hospital.; Oppose H.R. 3225 Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for enhanced payments to rural health care providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs; Discuss S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis. It would reauthorize certain federal mental health programs, revise the IMD exclusion, reform SAMHSA, and study parity in mental health laws. Support S. 1893, The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015, a bill to reauthorize and improve programs related to mental health and substance use disorders; Letter asking for modifications to H.R. 3298 Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing (PAC VBP) Act of 2015, the legislation would establish a value-based purchasing program for LTCHs, IRFs, SNFs and HH agencies. Worked to streamline and improve quality measures; Discussed how to implement the framework in the National Academy of Medicines Vital Signs report to streamline and focus quality measures used in Medicare programs; Discussed Opioid prescribing guidelines with the CDC to provide feedback on the opioid prescribing guidelines they were developing; Discussion with CMS regarding CAH designation status, negative impact of Insurance Consolidations on Medicare Advantage and for modifications to Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model regarding aspects of the proposed rule.

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

H.R. 6, 21st Century Cures Act. H.R. 1314, Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. H.R. 1343/S.688, Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015 H.R 1479, Repeal of the Obamacare Bay State Boondoggle Act. H.R. 2126, To prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from replacing ICD-9 with ICD-10 in implementing the HIPAA code set standards. H.R. 2156, 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. H.R.3018, Code-FLEX Act of 2015. S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act. S. 1461, A bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015. S. 1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act. CMS-1613-FC, Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Physician-Owned Hospitals: Data Sources for Expansion Exception; Physician Certification of Inpatient Hospital Services; Medicare Advantage Organizations and Part D Sponsors: CMS-Identified Overpayments Associated with Submitted Payment Data, Final Rule. CMS-1621-P, Medicare Program: Medicare Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests Payment System; Proposed Rule. CMS-3310-FC, Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, Stage 3; Final Rule Additional Comments. CMS-9937-P, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2017; Proposed Rule. EPA-HQ- RCRA-2007-0932; Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals; Proposed Rule. RIN Number 0945-AA02, Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities; Proposed Rule. RIN 0906-AB08, 340B Drug Pricing Program Omnibus Guidance.

H.R. 170: Rural Health Care Provider Relief Act of 2015 S. 257 / H.R. 1611: Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act H.R. 169 / S. 258: Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 H.R. 270: Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 H.R. 672 / S. 607: Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 H.R. 2878 / S. 1461: Would implement a one-year moratorium on enforcement of the supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services H.R. 1479: Repeal of the Obamacare Bay State Boondoggle Act S. 1648: Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act H.R. 3225: Save Rural Hospitals Act H.R. 1343 / S. 688: Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act H.R. 1314: Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

H.R. 1190, Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2015 H.R. 1314, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 H.R. 1427/S. 804 Medicare CGM Access Act H.R. 1624/S. 1099, the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act (PACE Act). H.R. 1686, the Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act H.R. 1726/S. 1345, the Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act H.R. 2029, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 H.R. 2050/S. 2045, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2015 H.R. 2061, the Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act H.R. 209/S. 139, the Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act H.R. 2102/S. 1131, the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Act H.R. 2205, the Data Security Act of 2015 H.R. 2404/S.1509, The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act H.R. 2446, To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require the use of electronic visit verification for personal care services furnished under the Medicaid program, and for other purposes. H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act H.R. 2878/ S. 1461, to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015. H.R. 2911/S. 1697, the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act H.R. 292/S. 2260, the Long-Term Studies of Comprehensive Outcomes and Returns for the Economy Act (Long-Term SCORE Act) H.R. 3081/S.1778 - TELEmedicine for MEDicare (TELE-MED) Act H.R. 3539, the Reinvigorating Antibiotic and Diagnostic Innovation (READI) Act H.R. 3660, the Preventive Health Savings Act H.R. 3716, the Ensuring Terminated Providers are Removed from Medicaid and CHIP Act H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act H.R. 3821, the Medicaid Directory of Caregivers Act H.R. 4155/S. 2343, the Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act H.R. 4227/S.2392, the Medicare Advantage Bill of Rights Act H.R. 592/S. 314, Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act H.R. 6, 21st Century Cures Act S. 139, Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2015 S. 1945, Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 S. 2023, the Prescription Drug Affordability Act S. 2030, the Advancing Targeted Therapies for Rare Diseases Act S. 2104, A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide relief to Medicare Advantage plans with a significant number of dually eligible or low-income subsidy beneficiaries and to prevent the termination of two star plans. S. 2141, TRUST IT Act S. 2153, the Provider Payment Sunshine Act, S. 2187, the FDA Regulatory Efficiency Act S. 2425, the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act S. 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA)

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, it is a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, legislation easing the shortage of psychiatric beds and extend and expand the CMS emergency psychiatric demonstration project; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with members of congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients; Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome;Discussed S. 1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning; Submitted a statement to the Senate Commerce Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet Subcommittee hearing on Advancing Telehealth through Connectivity. The statement supports expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund at the Federal Communications Commission; Support the H.R. 2745, Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER Act), a bill to provide that the Federal Trade Commission shall exercise authority with respect to mergers only under the Clayton Act and only in the same procedural manner as the Attorney General exercises such authority; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Support HR 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act (MEND 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; Submitted comments to HHS to refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals during a meeting with staff in Center for Clinical Standards and quality to discuss member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official confusing during health lawyers association webinar; Discussion with CMS staff regarding proposed rule on establishing market-based payments for clinical laboratory tests; Discussion to rescind the proposed 2 percent cut to CY 2016 outpatient PPS conversion factor; Support H.R.2948 Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases; Comment on HR 2646, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015,A bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis;Spoke with Rep. Kinds office on legislation to address the opioid epidemic in America; Support HR 1604, Veterans Mental Health Care Access Act, a bill that expands access to mental health services for veterans; Support H.R. 3183, The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, a bill which makes significant improvements to the Veterans Choice Program; Testified at three Insurance Consolidation Hearings to discuss the impact of the proposed acquisitions involving Aetna/ Humana and Anthem/Cigna; Support S 1189 The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Act, a bill that reauthorizes the Conrad 30 and makes other changes to the program to improve patient access to care; Discussed quality measurement, meaningful use and Conditions of Participation; Conversation with CMS about the IOM Vital Signs report and how its recommendations could make quality measurement more meaningful; Spoke with CMS urging the Agency to correct the misimpression that was created statements made during a National Association of Medical Staff Specialists webinar by a CMS employee; Discussion with CMS about proposals contained in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility PPS proposed rule urging CMS not to finalize two quality measures; Meeting at CMMI to discuss CCJR; Discuss S. 2141the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology Act of 2015, the TRUST Act, a bill that includes a definition of information blocking and a framework to assess interoperability of certified health IT (a health IT ratings program); Support S.1461 and H.R. 2878 a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Oppose S. 1648 Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital ActTo establish an alternative payment model for CAHs and small, rural hospitals whereby they may transition to become a rural emergency hospital.; Oppose H.R. 3225 Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for enhanced payments to rural health care providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs; Discuss S. 1945 Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill to make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals with mental illness and families in mental health crisis. It would reauthorize certain federal mental health programs, revise the IMD exclusion, reform SAMHSA, and study parity in mental health laws. Support S. 1893The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015A bill to reauthorize and improve programs related to mental health and substance use disorders.

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

Legislation and policies related to: Physician/nurse practitioner reimbursement Provisions of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) Adoption of recommendations of the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health Medicare Shared Savings Program beneficiary assignment requirements Medicare-Medicaid hospital conditions of participation Evaluation of the Medicare Graduate Nurse Education demonstration Medicare-Medicaid Program Integrity policies Medicaid maintenance of effort requirements Medicaid eligibility expansion and state options Medicaid waiver application procedures Medicaid per capita cap policy options Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible coverage and demonstration Draft Hospital Improvement for Payment (HIP) Act Telehealth provisions of the discussion draft 21st Century Cures legislation HHS study on the comparability of CHIP coverage and benefits with those of marketplace health plans Medicare provisions of H.R. 1892, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act H.R. 2 - Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act H.R. 160/S. 149 - Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 546/S. 298 - Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) Act H.R. 700 - Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act H.R. 818/S. 861 - Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act H.R. 876 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act H.R. 919 - CHIP Extension and Improvement Act H.R. 1021 - Protecting Integrity of Medicare Act (PIMA) H.R. 1190/S. 141 - Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act H.R. 1458 - Bundling and Coordinating Post-Acute Care (BACPAC) Act H.R. 1470 - SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act H.R. 2339 - To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the treatment of lottery winnings and other lump sum income for purposes of income eligibility under the Medicaid program H.R. 3134 - Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 H.R. 3292 - Medicare IME Pool Act H.R. 3298 - Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act S. 257/H.R. 1611 - Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act S. 578/H.R. 1342 - Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act S. 737/H.R. 2253 - Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women & Children Act S. 1349 - Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act S. 1456 - Rural ACO Improvement Act S. 1461 - Extending a moratorium on enforcement of direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015

H.R. 170: Rural Health Care Provider Relief Act of 2015 S. 257 / H.R. 1611: Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act H.R. 169 / S. 258: Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 H.R. 270: Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 H.R. 672 / S. 607: Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 H.R. 2652: Protecting Patients and Physicians Against Coding Act of 2015 H.R. 2247: Increasing Clarity for Doctors by Transitioning Effectively Now Act H.R. 2126: Cutting Costly Codes Act of 2015 H.R. 2878 / S. 1461: Would implement a one-year moratorium on enforcement of the supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services H.R. 1479: Repeal of the Obamacare Bay State Boondoggle Act S. 1648: Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act H.R. 3225: Save Rural Hospitals Act

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Support S 258 and HR 169, Critical Access Hospital Relief Act, a bill that would remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement as a condition of payment for critical access hospitals (CAHs); Support HR 293, a bill to exempt certain journals and text books used in continuing medical education (CME) from manufacturer transparency reporting requirements; Participated in the Hearing, Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program and submitted testimony about the 340B program, a federal drug discount program to Subcommittee members who will review the functionality of the program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals; HR 6, 21st Century Cures, it is a bill that accelerates the discovery and development of cures, and also includes provisions addressing interoperability of health IT and would provide additional money to NIH and the FDA; Two midnight discussion with several members of Congress; Support, Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare Telehealth, submitted a letter outlining the benefits of telehealth and showcases successful hospital and health system efforts. It also outlines barriers to greater use of telehealth; Submitted letter pertaining to interoperabilty within the hospital communities; Support S. 599, Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act of 2015, a bill that is an important step toward easing the shortage of psychiatric beds in communities across the nation and revise the length of the emergency psychiatric demonstration project that is currently limited to three years; Comments on H.R.1458, BACPAC Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide bundled payments for post-acute care services under parts A and B of Medicare, and submitted a statement for a hearing on HR 1458 (re bundled payments for post-acute and other post-hospital services); Discussed Equity of Care Issues with members of congress; Advocate for funding by working with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Hospital Preparedness Program staff on ensuring adequate Ebola hospital funding; Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ongoing Ebola-related issues and guidance; Working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that hospitals continue to be able to use blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMS) on hospitalized patients; Discussion of draft guidance on drug compounding and repackaging; Working with ASPR and CDC staff to define the impact of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program on improving health care system preparedness; Support efforts to advocate on Ebola within a discussion with FDA regarding impact on access to chest tubes regarding the Atrium Medical Corp and Maquet consent decree ; Advocate for regulatory approach in a discussion with White House staff regarding new initiative promoting bystander involvement in stopping hemorrhage in injured civilians; Attended a roundtable discussion on Opioid-related dependence, overdose, and death at HHS; Advocate for changes to The Care Planning Act, a bill that would provide for advanced illness care coordination services for Medicare beneficiaries; Support HR 2878 and S 1461,a bill to provide for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015; Support S.799/HR 1462, Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, a bill to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome;Discussed S. 1349, a bill that amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning; Submitted a statement to the Senate Commerce Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet Subcommittee hearing on Advancing Telehealth through Connectivity. The statement supports expansions to Medicare reimbursement for telehealth along with changes to the Health Care Connect Fund at the Federal Communications Commission; Support the H.R. 2745, Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER Act), a bill to provide that the Federal Trade Commission shall exercise authority with respect to mergers only under the Clayton Act and only in the same procedural manner as the Attorney General exercises such authority; Comments on S.1648, Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act of 2015, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sustainable future for rural healthcare. Support HR 1784, Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act (MEND 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; Submitted comments to HHS to refrain from finalizing a stage 3 meaningful use rule; Advocate for Appropriate Surveyor Guidance on Calculated Hospitals during a meeting with staff in Center for Clinical Standards and quality to discuss member concerns regarding remarks of CMS official confusing during health lawyers association webinar.

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

H.R. 2: Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 H.R. 170: Rural Health Care Provider Relief Act of 2015 S. 257 / H.R. 1611: Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act H.R. 169 / S. 258: Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2015 H.R. 270: Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015 H.R. 672 / S. 607: Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 H.R. 2652: Protecting Patients and Physicians Against Coding Act of 2015 H.R. 2247: Increasing Clarity for Doctors by Transitioning Effectively Now Act H.R. 2126: Cutting Costly Codes Act of 2015 S. 1461: Would implement a one-year moratorium on enforcement of the supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services H.R. 1479: Repeal of the Obamacare Bay State Boondoggle Act

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE