May 11, 2023
DEA temporarily extends flexibilities on controlled substances
On May 9, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a temporary rule to take effect on May 11, extending the telehealth flexibilities adopted during the PHE for six months – through November 11, 2023. For any practitioner-patient telehealth relationships that have been or will be established up to November 11, 2023, the full set of PHE flexibilities regarding prescription of controlled medications are extended through November 11, 2024. The DEA has an outstanding proposed rule that will address what happens next.
Reminder Congress extended telehealth flexibilities in Medicare through 2024
CMS has FAQs on the end of the PHE.
Medicaid Redetermination begins to affect millions of people
The timing and methods vary from state to state. Learn how Aledade is supporting practices and beneficiaries through the Medicaid Redetermination process. If you are a current Aledade ACO member, contact us or your Field team to access resources.
Aledade’s Chief Policy Officer Sean Cavanaugh testifies on the Hill
On April 26, the Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health held a bipartisan hearing covering 17 different bills, “Lowering Unaffordable Costs: Legislative Solutions to Increase Transparency and Competition in Health Care.”
Aledade’s Chief Policy Officer, Sean Cavanaugh, testified before Congress along with other experts. Sean’s testimony focused on how increasing competition is central to improving health outcomes and lowering costs, and outlined pro-competitive provisions in bills the committee is considering.
News out of NAACOS Spring Conference
At last week’s National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) conference, Dr. Meena Seshamani, Director of Medicare, and Liz Fowler, Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, reinforced CMS’s goal of all Medicare beneficiaries in accountable care models by 2030. CMS staff were everywhere at one of the largest ACO conferences, creating a lot of momentum in the community.
Aledade presented on panels focusing on best practices for annual wellness visits, understanding changes to Medicare Advantage risk adjustment, and the future of MSSP benchmarking. If you are a current Aledade ACO member, you can access NAACOS materials – email us if interested.
New policy brief and upcoming webinar on prior authorization
The Aledade State Policy team published a brief on the burdens of prior authorization. Join us for our Spring Multi-State Policy Collaborative webinar on May 24 at 7 pm ET to learn directly from physician advocates, legislators, and stakeholders who are actively involved in passing legislation to address prior authorization in primary care. Register here.
Upcoming webinar on addressing social drivers on health
Does your care team struggle to address social needs that come up during office visits? Join us for a free webinar on June 1 at noon ET where we’ll hear success stories, best practices and actionable insights from ACO members who have cracked the code on addressing social drivers of health (SDoH). We’ll also review policies that we believe would be most effective in reducing barriers to addressing SDoH. Save your spot here.
The Policy team grows
We are thrilled to welcome Will London to the Policy team. Will came from the Ohio legislative space as a Legislative Liaison at Opportunities with Ohioans with Disabilities. He joins us as a State Policy Senior Analyst and will continue to grow our influence in state advocacy and legislation. When you hear from Will, please join us in welcoming him.