Nov 7, 2016 | Uncategorized
It doesn’t matter who does the math, Thomas: Amendment 69 would be a disaster for Colorado taxpayers. This week the Tax Foundation, an independent research organization, released a report on the impacts of passing ColoradoCare into law — and it’s as bad as we thought.nnHere are some of the Tax Foundation’s findings:n
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- “Amendment 69 would hurt Colorado’s tax climate as the state would surpass California with the highest individual income tax rate in the country.”
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- “Amendment 69 would create a new bureaucracy, with immense authority to change taxes, outside of the state’s current balance of powers, eliminating transparency for taxpayers.”
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- “The economic incidence of payroll taxes is borne by employees, not employers. Splitting responsibility for the payment of the tax between employer and employee does not change the economic incidence.”
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- “Colorado would plummet from 16th to 34th nationally on the State Business Tax Climate Index, confronting voters with an important choice in the Centennial State.”
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nExperts from all across the political spectrum — as well as independent research entities like the Tax Foundation — all agree: Amendment 69 is wrong for Colorado.
Oct 27, 2016 | Uncategorized
Bill Summaryn Colorado Stat. 10-16-123 (new rev. eff. 1/1/17)nnHOUSE SPONSORSHIPn Buck and Ginal,n SENATE SPONSORSHIPn Kefalas and Martinez Humenik,nnUnder current law, health benefit plans issued, amended, or renewed in this state cannot require in-person health care delivery for a person covered under the plan who resides in a county with 150,000 or fewer residents if the care can be appropriately delivered through telemedicine and the county has the technology necessary for care delivery via telemedicine.nnStarting January 1, 2016, the bill removes the population restrictions and precludes a health benefit plan from requiring in-person care delivery when telemedicine is appropriate, regardless of the geographic location of the health care provider and the recipient of care. A provider need not demonstrate that a barrier to in-person care exists for coverage of telemedicine under a health benefit plan to apply.nnIn addition, carriers:nn! Must reimburse providers who deliver care through telemedicine on the same basis that the carrier is responsible for coverage of services delivered in person;n! Cannot charge deductible, copayment, or coinsurance amounts that are not equally imposed on all terms and services covered under the health benefit plan; andn! Cannot impose an annual or lifetime dollar maximum that applies separately to telemedicine services.
Oct 27, 2016 | Uncategorized
Reminder, ACA Section 1557 Compliance Began Sunday, October 16th!nnAll practices – regardless of practice size – are required to post the non-discrimination notice and taglines. Follow theses easy steps to ensure your practice is compliant.nnPost Notice of Nondiscriminationn- Download PDF.n- Enter practice name.n- Print/post in office.n- Post PDF to your website.nnArrange for a Language Assistance Providern- Download list of language assistance providers.n- Select a provider.n- Establish a relationship.nnMake a Tag Lines Postern- Identify the top 15 languages in your state.n- Download the example PDF.n- Enter practice name & language assistance provider phone. Download language verbiage and copy into template.n- Print/post in clinic.nnEstablish Civil Rights Grievance Proceduren- Only required for covered entities with 15 or more employees.n- Designate a Civil Rights Grievance Officer.n- Put Civil Rights Grievance Procedure in place and document.nnComplete Online Attestationn- Go to OCR attestation portal.n- Submit Assurance of Compliance.nnThis is required for all practices receiving government funding (ie. Medicare Parts A, C & D [NOT B], Medicaid, Meaningful Use, etc.)
Oct 19, 2016 | Uncategorized
CMS Provider Education Message:nnOn October 14, HHS finalized its policy implementing the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) incentive payment provisions in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), collectively referred to as the Quality Payment Program. The new Quality Payment Program will gradually transform Medicare payments for more than 600,000 clinicians across the country, and is a major step in improving care across the entire health care system.nnThe final rule with comment period offers a fresh start for Medicare by centering payments around the care that is best for the patients, providing more options to clinicians for innovative care and payment approaches, and reducing administrative burden to give clinicians more time to spend with their patients, instead of on paperwork.nnAccompanying the announcement is a new Quality Payment Program website, which will explain the new program and help clinicians easily identify the measures most meaningful to their practice or specialty.nnFor More Information:nFinal Rule and Executive SummarynPress ReleasenFact SheetnQuality Payment Program website
Oct 19, 2016 | Uncategorized
ColoradoCare’s proponents claim that Amendment 69 will be good for our active duty and retired military. But that’s not what Colorado’s veterans think! The Pueblo Chieftan published a letter from two decorated retired Colorado veterans, who are opposing the dangerous tax burdens and uncertain health coverage contained in Amendment 69. Read their letter here.nnWith the health care system set up by ColoradoCare, veterans and active duty military members will still receive their care through TRICARE and VA benefits, not through ColoradoCare. But despite no benefits from the new system, Colorado’s military families would still be forced to pay their share of a huge new income tax hike! That could mean a retired colonel eligible for Medicare benefits would pay a $6,000 annual premium for ColoradoCare, with no health care benefits!nnAmendment 69 is dangerous for all Coloradans, but especially for our military families. We only have a few weeks to defeat Amendment 69.nn
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The Denver Post‘s recent editorial on Amendment 69 starts off with a bang:nn”Should Amendment 69 find itself embedded in the Colorado Constitution, and fail even half as dramatically as it could — and we cannot imagine how it could succeed — it would take navigating circles of hell in a wooden dingy to correct the damage.”nnFrom the giant tax hikes that would affect not only workers’ bottom lines but also the ability of Colorado’s small businesses to grow, to the 21-member board of politicians that would control your health coverage, the Post urges a “resounding ‘no’ on Amendment 69.”This is a huge boost of momentum to our effort to stop ColoradoCare from becoming law, Thomas.nnBut ballots were mailed to voters today — there’s just not much time left to make sure we have the votes to defeat this dangerous measure. Can you chip in $15 today?
Oct 19, 2016 | Uncategorized
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invites you to join a webinar on October 26 at 2:00 PM ET, on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) final rule with comment period. The webinar will provide an overview of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) incentive payment provisions under MACRA, collectively referred to as the Quality Payment Program.nnWebinar DetailsnnQuality Payment Program OverviewnnDate: Wednesday, October 26, 2016nTime: 2:00 to 3:00 PM ETnRegister: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms/index.jsp?seid=530nSpace for this webinar is limited. Register now to secure your spot. After you register, you will receive an email message with a dial-in number and webinar link. Please note, you will not be able to share your participant information because it will be unique to you.nnQuality Payment Program Final Rule MLN Connects® Call — November 15nnDate: Tuesday, November 15, 2016nTime: 1:30 to 3:00 PM ETnRegister: MLN Connects Event RegistrationnTarget Audience: Medicare Part B Fee-For-Service clinicians, office managers and administrators; state and national associations that represent healthcare providers; and other stakeholders.nSpace may be limited, register early. During this call, learn about the provisions in the recently released final rule; participants should review the rule prior to the call. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.nnFor More InformationnnTo learn more about the final rule and the Quality Payment Program, view the following resources:n
nSubmit a Formal CommentnnCMS encourages the public to submit comments on the MACRA final rule. Comments are due 60 days after the date of filing for public inspection, and can be submitted in several ways, including:n
