Help End Observation Status: Act Now 

Legislation pending in Congress, the "Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013" (H.R. 1179/S.569) can end the problem of Observation Status. Contact your legislators now to support this critical legislation.

Read more about Observation Status

New Story! NPR Blog - For Hospital Patients, Observation Status Can Prove Costly

Upcoming Webinars 

December 11, 2013: Discharge Planning and Care Coordination: Tips for Medicare Advocates, Presented by Attorney Alfred Chiplin and Ellen Lang, RN, MPH: Discuss key features of Medicare’s expanded guidance on discharge planning as we highlight provisions of the ACA that can be used as tools to help beneficiaries obtain the discharge planning and care coordination services they need. Register Now!

February 12, 2014: Tackling the Medicare Face-to-Face Requirement for Home Health, Presented by Attorney Wey-Wey Kwok. Details to follow.

April, 2014: Practical Tips for Arguing Your Case Before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), Presented by Senior Attorney Mary Ashkar and Senior Attorney Terry Berthelot. Details to follow.

Register Now: CMS Education Pursuant to the Jimmo Settlement (12/19/13, 2PM)

As part of the Settlement agreement, CMS agreed to undertake an education campaign. As part of that campaign, this MLN Connects^tm call will provide an overview of clarifications to the Medicare program manuals, including:

• Clarification of Medicare’s policy on coverage for skilled services;

• No "Improvement Standard" is to be applied in determining Medicare coverage for maintenance claims that require skilled care;

• Enhanced guidance on appropriate documentation.

Register Now to participate in the call.