Many comments were submitted in response to proposed rules released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on February 18, 2020. There has been very little communication from CMS about how it plans to respond to the comments. The process of developing rules goes back to December of 2013 with the first rules proposal [...]
On Monday, June 8, 2020, UWC submitted a letter of opposition to the House and Senate Committees with jurisdiction concerning Title V Section 120501 of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) as it was passed by the House of Representatives. The letter was submitted to assure that the committees with jurisdiction [...]
On December 19, 2019 Congress enacted the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020”HR 1865”. The Act includes a 7 year extension of TRIA. President Trump signed the Act into law on December 20, 2019. UWC has long supported TRIA in recognition that 1) it is difficult to determine an appropriate risk factor for terrorism events; 2) the [...]
On August 2, 2019, Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Representative George Holding (R-NC) introduced the COMP Act (HR 4161) to clarify the application of Medicare Secondary Payer provisions to Workers’ Compensation. The bill has broad based support from injured worker representatives and workers’ compensation payers seeking to clarify the application of MSP to Workers’ Compensation settlements. [...]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2019 regulatory agenda including a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a rule that would provide guidance for Medicare beneficiaries with respect to health care choices and Medicare Secondary Payer. The text of the notice is provided below with Notice of Proposed Rulemaking projected for September 2019. [...]
The coalition supporting legislation to improve administration of Medicare with Workers’ Compensation (S 3079) which was introduced in the Senate on June 18th applauds the introduction of the Medicare Secondary Payer and Workers’ Compensation Settlement Agreements Act in the House by Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6619?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22HR+6619%22%5D%7D&r=1 . The proposed legislation (HR 6619) [...]
On June 18, 2018 Senators Portman (R-OH) and Nelson (D-FL) introduced legislation (S 3079) to provide specific statutory guidance to CMS in its review of Workers’ Compensation Set Aside determinations. The bill is the product of discussions with representatives of all the primary stakeholders in the workers’ compensation system, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and congressional [...]
On April 19, 2018 the US Department of Labor published the Final rule addressing the determination of minimum and maximum compensation under the Longshore Act. See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-04-19/pdf/2018-08133.pdf The rule finalizes the Department’s interpretation after receiving comments, including comments from UWC. The USDOL has chosen not to change its interpretation from 2016 in deference to case law. [...]
In a press release the National Alliance of Medicare Set-aside Professionals (NAMSAP) claimed that the policies of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) "Institutionalized Opioid Abuse". "The Medicare Set-Aside program of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “encourages, intensifies and effectively orders long-term opioid use and abuse by Medicare beneficiaries. While the rest [...]
In a letter to the Committee on Ways and Means of the US House of Representatives, UWC requested that the committee take note of state efforts to address opioid overuse among injured employees through a number of initiatives such as evidence-based treatment guidelines, closed formularies and system monitoring. UWC further recommended that the committee consider measures [...]
