Grant Deadline

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) encourages the submission of improvement activities for consideration in future years of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The MIPS Annual Call for Improvement Activities process allows clinicians, professional associations, and medical societies that represent clinicians, researchers, consumer groups, and others to identify and submit activities.

CMS is looking for the following when considering new activities:

On February 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final part one guidance for the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. The guidance focuses on outlining the necessary operational requirements for Medicare Part D plan sponsors as they prepare for the new program and addresses topics such as identifying Medicare Part D enrollees likely to benefit from the program, the opt-in process for Part D enrollees, program participant protections, and the data collection needed to evaluate the program.

On February 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the second part of draft guidance for the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan that outlines requirements for Medicare Part D plan sponsors, including outreach and education requirements, pharmacy processes, and operational considerations, for the program’s first year, 2025.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that nominations for the 2024 CMS Health Equity Award are now open to organizations working to advance health equity, showing others how to reduce disparities in health care access, quality, and outcomes. This award will go to an organization that can demonstrate that they have reduced disparities in health care quality, access, or outcomes between two or more groups.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register to update regulations for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Indian Community Development Block Grant Programs (ICDBG). The proposed rule would streamline program requirements, promote economic development and investments in underserved communities, and enable larger, transformative construction projects such as housing rehabilitation, mixed-use development, and infrastructure improvements.

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance detailing improvements to the structure of the Part D drug benefit for 2025 that will result in lower drug costs for millions of people with Medicare through the release of the Draft CY 2025 Part D Redesign Program Instructions. In 2025, under the Inflation Reduction Act, annual out-of-pocket costs for individuals with Medicare Part D will be capped at $2,000.

On January 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a data request for information (RFI) to solicit feedback from the public on how best to enhance Medicare Advantage (MA) data capabilities and increase public transparency. CMS encourages feedback from a wide array of interested parties, including beneficiaries and beneficiary advocates, plans, providers, community-based organizations, researchers, employers and unions, and all other interested parties, including the public at large.

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a federal advisory committee that coordinates federal efforts and provides advice to the Secretary of HHS on issues related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is seeking public comments to assist the committee in identifying priorities related to physical health, mental health, and other related conditions that commonly co-occur with autism.

On January 9, the Justice Department sent to the Federal Register for publication a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that aims to improve access to medical diagnostic equipment (MDE) for people with disabilities.

Improving access to quality age-inclusive care for older adults in rural communities requires flexible practices and approaches to help combat barriers. The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has partnered with The John A. Hartford Foundation to enhance access to resources for rural healthy aging and age-inclusive care in rural America by engaging stakeholders and disseminating important information as a primary component of the National Rural Age-Friendly Initiative.