AHCA/NCAL’s Mark Parkinson Quoted in New York Times on the NOTICE Act

On August 6, 2016, AHCA/NCAL’s President and CEO, Mark Parkinson, was quoted in a New York Times article on the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act.  AHCA/NCAL supports the NOTICE Act law, will require hospitals to notify Medicare beneficiaries of their outpatient status within 36 hours.  Outpatient status affects a patient’s ability to receive Medicare coverage for post-acute care in a skilled nursing center.  Parkinson was quoted in the article saying, “Patients often have no idea what their status is in a hospital.  Observation stays impose a financial burden on seniors, and increase the likelihood that they will have to turn to programs like Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people.” You can read the full article here. 

In addition, the August 2, 2016, final rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the implementation of the NOTICE Act can be found here.  A brief summary of the NOTICE Act section of the CMS final rule put together by Hancock, Daniel, Johnson & Nagle, P.C., is here.  The Notice Act had technically required that Medicare eligible patients receive a notice of their outpatient observation status starting on August 6, 2016.  However, the CMS final rule notes that the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) has not yet been approved for use.  After reviewing the summary and CMS final rule, you will see that the NOTICE Act will not be implemented until the late Fall of 2016, at the earliest.