By PAUL NATINSKY

As Robert F. Kennedy eases into the Health and Human Services director’s chair, his flashpoints and shortcomings are widely publicized, but lightly opposed.

Kennedy’s skeptical views on vaccine effectiveness and safety, fondness for fringe conspiracy theories and likely embrace of deep Medicaid cuts have the healthcare community and many policymakers concerned about the new secretary’s public health stewardship.

Kennedy’s lack of administrative acumen looms large as he assumes control over a department that employs 80,000 and oversees a $3 trillion annual expenditure representing 22.8% of the U.S. federal budget.

Kennedy lacks managerial experience at organizations even a small fraction of that size. HHS is responsible for the care of 140 million Americans. That number is largely made up of the country’s most vulnerable citizens, including people too poor to afford to buy health insurance, those whose employers don’t offer coverage, and people over age 65 or who have disabilities.

Yet, despite these glaring warning signs, the healthcare community is oddly silent or seemingly eerily reassured.

Nationally, the online news outlet Politico could round up only a handful of healthcare insiders to comment under a veil of anonymity. Only the American Public Health Association spoke on record.

“They think he’s the wrong person for the job,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive [Read More]

By PHIL GALEWITZ

Medicaid is under threat — again.

Republicans, who narrowly control Congress, are pushing proposals that could sharply cut funding to the government health insurance program for poor and disabled Americans, as a way to finance President Donald Trump’s agenda for tax cuts and border security.

Democrats, hoping to block the GOP’s plans and preserve Medicaid funding, are rallying support from hospitals, governors, and consumer advocates.

At stake is coverage for roughly 79 million people enrolled in Medicaid and its related Children’s Health Insurance Program. So, too, is the financial health of thousands of hospitals and community health centers — and a huge revenue source to all states.

On Feb. 13, the House Budget Committee voted to seek at least $880 billion in mandatory spending cuts on programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. That committee oversees Medicaid, which is expected to bear much of the cuts.

Senate Republicans, working on their own plan, have not proposed similar deep cuts. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the Finance Committee’s top Democrat, said he expects “an effort to keep the Medicaid cuts hidden behind the curtain, but they’re going to come sooner or later.”

Since Trump took office, Republicans in Washington have discussed making changes to Medicaid, particularly by requiring [Read More]

By AMY MAXMEN

Some private schools have shut down because of a rapidly escalating measles outbreak in West Texas. Local health departments are overstretched, pausing other important work as they race to limit the spread of this highly contagious virus.

Since the outbreak emerged three weeks ago, the Texas health department has confirmed 90 cases with 16 hospitalizations, as of Feb. 21. Most of those infected are under age 18. Officials suspect that nine additional measles cases reported in New Mexico, across the border from the epicenter of the Texas outbreak in Gaines County, are linked to the Texas outbreak. Ongoing investigations seek to confirm that connection.

Health officials worry they’re missing cases. Undetected infections bode poorly for communities because doctors and health officials can’t contain transmission if they can’t identify who is infected.

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” said Rekha Lakshmanan, chief strategy officer for The Immunization Partnership in Houston, a nonprofit that advocates for vaccine access. “I think this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

An unknown number of parents may not be taking sick children to clinics where they could be tested, said Katherine Wells, the public health director in Lubbock, Texas. “If your kids are responding to fever reducers and [Read More]

By STEPHEN SHAVER
Consultant, Wachler & Associates PC

Nearly every third-party payor of claims for healthcare services – Medicare, Medicaid plans, commercial insurers, etc. – will at some point request that the billing provider submit copies of the documentation and medical records that support the services billed. In these circumstances, an ounce of prevention is often worth a pound of cure. The payor will often make decisions regarding coverage and overpayment allegations based on the records submitted by the provider. The provider can proactively address or even prevent many disputes by careful attention to their response to the medical records request.

First, a provider should be aware of what entity issued the request, what specific records it has requested, and for what purpose. For example, a Medicare Unified Program Integrity Contractor (“UPIC”) is charged with investigating allegations of fraud within the Medicare program and may conduct a records review differently from other Medicare contractors. The Special Investigation (“SI”) unit or team at many commercial insurers serves much the same function. The provider is generally required to comply with the request for records, whether by law, regulation, or contractual agreement. It is, therefore, important to carefully review the record request and provide documentation that is responsive. Where the request [Read More]

By ERICA ERMAN
Dickinson Wright

Can you remember healthcare security 20+ years ago? It seems like a different world from now. Believe it or not, the HIPAA Security Rule has barely changed since it was first enacted in 2003[1]and has been long overdue for a significant remodel. Read on for highlights of the proposed new Security Rule and action items.

A Very Brief HIPAA History

 As a quick background, the HIPAA Security Rule was first penned in large part to create minimum security standards for electronic protected health information (ePHI) and to protect patients’ rights over their healthcare data. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009 added the now well-known Breach Notification Rule as well as other significant changes in an effort to protect patient information. As healthcare professionals well know, much of the onus of protecting that information has fallen on HIPAA-covered entities and providers.

Questions, Concerns, Complaints – Comment Period Is Open

On January 6, 2025, the proposed new HIPAA Security Rule was added to the Federal Register. For any of our readers interested in filing comments to the proposed rule, please note that the comment period is open until March 7, 2025 (60 days after the proposed rule was [Read More]

Richardville Urges Leadership, Bi-Partisan Cooperation To Address ‘Mental Health Crisis’

Back in 2014, then-Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville put together a $1.5 billion road funding plan with higher fuel taxes, among other things. He said the incentive at the time was what he was hearing in his district.

“I think the most common phrase I’m hearing from back home is ‘just fix the roads. In fact, they say ’just fix the damn roads,” Richardville is quoted in an MLive article as saying.

Richardville was before his time in coining that catchphrase. His counterpart in the Senate at the time, Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer, used the slogan during her gubernatorial campaign with success.

But like Whitmer, Richardville wasn’t able to get any traction on this plan. Gov. Rick Snyder and House Speaker Jase Bolger gave it a frosty response and the issue carried over into the next term.

Now, with House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) putting out a revamped proposal using existing revenue and now-Gov. Whitmer slated to come out as soon as Monday with a road funding plan that she has said will be a mix of new revenue and cuts, Richardville feels bipartisanship may be back in the air.

And that’s what brings the former Senator from Monroe back to Lansing. Richardville was the guest on [Read More]

By STEPHANIE ARMOUR

Former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House will likely bring changes that scale back the nation’s public health insurance programs — increasing the uninsured rate, while imposing new barriers to abortion and other reproductive care.

The reverberations will be felt far beyond Washington, D.C., and could include an erosion of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections, the imposition of work requirements in Medicaid and funding cuts to the safety net insurance, and challenges to federal agencies that safeguard public health. Abortion restrictions may tighten nationwide with a possible effort to restrict the mailing of abortion medications.

And with the elevation of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Trump’s inner circle of advisers, public health interventions with rigorous scientific backing — whether fluoridating public water supplies or inoculating children — could come under fire.

Trump’s return will give a far broader platform to skeptics and critics of federal health programs and actions. Worst case, public health authorities worry, the U.S. could see increases in preventable illnesses; a weakening of public confidence in established science; and debunked notions — such as a link between vaccines and autism — adopted as policy. Trump said in an NBC News interview on Nov. 3 that he would “make a [Read More]

This year, Michigan hospitals will continue pushing legislators to ban drug manufacturers from creating restrictions and limited-access conditions around their “340B Drug” products, which they say will preserve discounted drug access for rural hospitals.

The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program was established in 1993. According to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, drug manufacturers participating in the Medicaid insurance program must supply outpatient drugs to 340B facilities at “significantly reduced prices.” Becoming a 340B facility depends on the number of Medicaid recipients and considerably “underserved” individuals that a hospital serves.

In a recent interview with MIRS, Laura Appel – the Michigan Health and Hospital Association’s executive vice president – said 87 hospitals in the state were 340B hospitals at the time.

She spoke to MIRS while the Senate was wrapping up its overnight, 29-hour Senate session. However, as she observed the Capitol from her office window, she admitted that one of the biggest bills MHA most wanted to be passed in the 2023-24 term was dead.

Right now, states like Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri outlaw drugmakers in their state from putting up “340B Contract Pharmacy Restrictions.” On Dec. 13, the Senate passed a bill 30-5 – with three senators not voting – prohibiting manufacturers from setting up guardrails in their 340B contracts.

The [Read More]

Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Whitmer Signs Maternal Health Package, Pharmacist Birth Control Bills, Other Insurance Changes

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed 16 bills this month, many surrounding women’s reproductive health care, including two that let pharmacists prescribe birth control, a nine-bill package putting pregnancy on Medicaid, and two on birthing centers and doulas.

Whitmer was slated to sign HB 5435 and HB 5436 in Flint today, but the event was canceled because of the snow and freezing weather. Whitmer posted the signing on social media, where she thanked Reps. Stephanie Young (D-Detroit) and Kara Hope (D-Holt) for sponsoring the bills.

“Today, I’m signing commonsense bills to further protect everyone’s fundamental freedom to make their own decisions about their own body,” Whitmer said. “These bills will save women time and money so they can access the birth control they need and cut unnecessary red tape that stands between people and their health care.”

The bills would not only allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control, but would also require insurance to cover birth control, as well.

The bills passed along party lines and Republicans voiced their opposition to the bills, opening the guidelines to allow prescriptions regardless of age.

Planned Parenthood of Michigan applauded the passage of the two bills.

“As [Read More]

By ROLF LOWE
Wachler & Associates

On Dec. 18, 2024, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced that Michigan, along with New York, Oklahoma and South Carolina were selected to participate in the Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model. The IBH Model is another step forward by CMS in integrating health care services and improving outcomes for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The IBH Model was announced in January of 2024 with CMS providing funding opportunities for state Medicaid agencies willing to participate in the IBH Model. The Implementation of the IBH Model started on January 1, 2025, and is scheduled to be in effect for eight years.

The IBH Model in Michigan is being implemented in designated sub-state geographic service areas. The provider participants in the in the IBH Model are specialty behavioral practices, community mental health centers, opioid treatment programs and public or private practices where individuals can receive outpatient mental health or Substance Use Disorder (SUD) services or both. The IBH Model refers to the providers as practice participants. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) intends to implement the IBH Model in both urban and rural areas. Providers being selected to become practice participants in the IBH Model are those that [Read More]

By GLENN S. RICHARDS & LEE G. PETRO
Dickinson Wright

Introduction

On December 13, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced significant updates to its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform. This enhanced tool, now incorporating a range of new health metrics, aims to provide deeper insights into the connection between expanding broadband connectivity and critical health outcomes, with a particular focus on maternal health.

Background

The FCC administers two healthcare subsidy programs under its Universal Service Fund: the Rural Health Care (RHC) program and the COVID-19 Telehealth program. The RHC program provides funding to eligible health care providers to support the cost of broadband and telecommunications services that enable telehealth and telemedicine. The COVID-19 Telehealth program was created during the pandemic to provide funding to eligible health care providers to purchase telecommunications services, information services, and connected devices to provide connected care services to patients in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to these efforts, the FCC’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform was launched to visualize and analyze the relationship between broadband access and chronic diseases. The platform has evolved to address various public health challenges, including opioid abuse and maternal health. The latest update significantly expands the platform’s capabilities, making it a valuable [Read More]

Michigan’s public mental health plans filed a lawsuit accusing the state’s Department of Health and Human Services of imposing unnegotiated contract terms and threatening to cut off funding.

The plans, known as prepaid inpatient health plans argued DHHS’ actions violate state law and jeopardize mental health and substance use disorder services for thousands of residents.

“This isn’t just a contract dispute – it’s about ensuring the stability of behavioral health services that families across the state rely on every day,” said Robert Sheehan, chief executive officer of Community Mental Health Association of Michigan.

The six-count complaint, filed on behalf of NorthCare Network Mental Health Care Entity and Northern Michigan Regional Entity in the Court of Claims, alleges in part violation of the Headlee Amendment, and the PIHPs seek a writ compelling the state to continue providing Medicaid and general funds to the PIHPs as well as retraction of any communications and actions “taken to terminate the relationship between DHHS and plaintiffs.”

The plaintiffs, who want a preliminary injunction prohibiting DHHS from withholding substance abuse disorder health home services funding, also want a hearing to dispute DHHS’ decision to terminate contracts and they seek unspecified damages.

DHHS said in a late statement that “the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is [Read More]

By ANNIE WALDMAN

This story was originally published Nov. 19, by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

For years, it was a mystery: Seemingly out of the blue, therapists would feel like they’d tripped some invisible wire and become a target of UnitedHealth Group.

A company representative with the Orwellian title “care advocate” would call and grill them about why they’d seen a patient twice a week or weekly for six months.

In case after case, United would refuse to cover care, leaving patients to pay out-of-pocket or go without it. The severity of their issues seemed not to matter.

Around 2016, government officials began to pry open United’s black box. They found that the nation’s largest health insurance conglomerate had been using algorithms to identify providers it determined were giving too much therapy and patients it believed were receiving too much; then, the company scrutinized their cases and cut off reimbursements.

By the end of 2021, United’s algorithm program had been deemed illegal in three states.

But that has not stopped the company from continuing to police mental health care with arbitrary thresholds and cost-driven targets, ProPublica found, after reviewing what is effectively the company’s internal playbook for limiting and cutting therapy expenses. The insurer’s strategies are [Read More]

 By JENNI COLAGIOVANNI
Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) resulted in the waiver of certain pre-pandemic restrictions to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services and increase access to care for Medicare patients.  More than a year and a half after the end of the PHE, several of these continuing telehealth flexibilities are set to expire on December 31, 2024, returning Medicare coverage of some telehealth services back to their pre-pandemic requirements.

Background: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare coverage of telehealth services was primarily limited to patients located in rural areas and restricted to certain provider types and services. Patients were generally required to travel to approved clinical sites to engage in telehealth services from providers in other locations. Early in the pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) broadened the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services’ waiver authority under section 1135 of the Social Security Act.  Pursuant to this broadened authority, CMS waived the requirements of section 1834(m)(4)(E) of the Act and 42 CFR § 410.78 that specified the types of “distant site” practitioners that could bill Medicare for telehealth services to include all practitioners eligible to bill Medicare for their professional [Read More]

By KIMBERLY J. RUPPEL
Dickinson Wright

As is the case in many industry sectors, the end of the year brings us to wonder what is in store for healthcare in 2025. Although the future is anyone’s guess, the following three areas of healthcare are most likely to experience robust activity.

1. Non-Compete Litigation

Non-compete provisions are designed to prohibit an employed or contracted healthcare provider from competing against the contracting entity by working for or starting a competing business within a particular geographic area for some time. In April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) promulgated a rule (the “Rule”) generally prohibiting non-compete clauses in employment agreements except for certain “Senior Executives” with policy-making authority who were compensated greater than $151,164 per year. There was also an exception for non-compete agreements entered into as part of a sale of a business. That Rule was to become effective September 4, 2024. However, a number of lawsuits were filed seeking to prevent its application.

• Fifth Circuit Appeal Ryan

In this case, the plaintiffs argued the FTC exceeded its statutory authority in promulgating the Rule and asked the court to declare the Rule illegal, and the court agreed. As a result, the court determined the Rule was not enforceable nationwide. The FTC [Read More]

Bill To Relax Public Employee Health Insurance Moves

Public employee unions would have more ability to collectively bargain their members’ health insurance costs under legislation that moved early last month in the Senate on a party-line vote and, later in the day, in the House.

In response to local government employees and teachers getting fed up with soaring health insurance costs, Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) sponsored bills (introduced before the hunting break) that give some flexibility to what’s known as the “80/20” and “hard cap” options.

The revamped versions of SB 1129 and SB 1130 address the same issue as bills that moved out of a House committee last week, but are not the same.

“By taking swift action on this critical issue, the legislators have taken a critical step in reigning in skyrocketing health care costs for Michigan teachers and school support staff, which can keep the best and brightest educators working in our local schools and helping our students learn,” said Michigan Education Association President and CEO Chandra Madafferi.

“Our students deserve to have great educators in every school, and we can only do that by allowing school districts to offer competitive wages and benefits that can keep talented educators in the profession.”

Meanwhile, the House passed HB 6058 , sponsored by [Read More]

By ARTHUR ALLEN

Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team.

Trump announced Thursday he’ll nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, after saying during his campaign he’d let the anti-vaccine activist “go wild” on medicines, food, and health.

Should Kennedy win Senate confirmation, his critics say a radical antiestablishment medical movement with roots in past centuries would take power, threatening the achievements of a science-based public health order painstakingly built since World War II.

Trump said in a post on the social platform X that “Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” echoing Kennedy’s complaints about the medical establishment. The former Democratic presidential candidate will “end the Chronic Disease epidemic” and “Make American Great and Healthy Again!” Trump wrote.

Vaccine makers’ stocks dipped Thursday afternoon amid news reports ahead of Trump’s RFK announcement.

If Kennedy makes good on his vision for transforming public health, childhood vaccine mandates could wither. New vaccines might never win approval, even as [Read More]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is coming into the nomination process in an unusual position, with a long list of his own policy priorities separate from the president-elect’s, and a public promise by Trump to let him “go wild” on his ideas.

Céline Gounder, the editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News and a CBS News medical contributor, answers questions below about the role Kennedy has been tapped to take on and some of the ideas in the sweeping “Make America Healthy Again” platform he may try to push through.

Q: What is the role of the Department of Health and Human Services, and how much power does the HHS secretary have over its work?

A: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services comprises several agencies and offices including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Office of the Surgeon General, and much more.

There is a big difference between political appointees and career civil servants. Political appointees set strategic priorities and align their department or agency’s policies with the current administration’s objectives. Civil servants have the institutional [Read More]

By JESSE ADAM MARKOS, ESQ.
Wachler & Associates, PC

 The National Practitioner Data Bank (Data Bank) published an article in a recent version of their in-house publication, NPDB Insights, that reinforces the importance of exercising caution before resigning from a hospital.  For those on staff or employed by a hospital, a resignation may at first glance appear to be the best path forward when their relationship with that hospital has deteriorated.  However, that resignation will often create more problems than it resolves if it triggers a report to the Data Bank because the resignation occurred during an ongoing investigation by the Hospital.  And since a Data Bank report can have significant professional and economic ramifications, it is important for physicians to understand how to appropriately disengage from a hospital and avoid a Data Bank report when possible.

By way of background, the Data Bank is an alert system that collects and discloses certain adverse information about physicians and other health care providers.  An adverse report to the Data Bank can significantly impact a physician’s reputation and career.  State licensing authorities, hospitals and other health care entities, and professional societies search the Data Bank when investigating qualifications.  A response that contains an adverse report can act as a permanent [Read More]

By KATHLEEN WALKER
Dickinson Wright

On November 1, Texas hospitals faced a new requirement under an Executive Order issued by Governor Greg Abbott on August 8, 2024 (Order), requiring them to document medical costs related to the care of individuals without legal immigration status. Governor Abbott provided the following statement explaining the reasoning behind his Order:

“Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state,” said Governor Abbott. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants. That is why today I issued an Executive Order requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect and report healthcare costs for illegal immigrants in our state. Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of their open border policies, and we will fight to ensure that they pay back Texas for their costly and dangerous policies.”

Under the Order, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) must collect data on the use of Texas acute care hospitals for inpatient and emergency care for “illegal immigrants.” Beginning November 1, covered hospitals and designated providers must collect this data and [Read More]

Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

$15.6M Contract For COVID-19 Test Kits Goes To Florida Company

The state awarded a $15.6 million contract to Orlando-based Abbott Rapid Dx North America to continue in-state COVID-19 testing.

The funding is coming from the federal government through the COVID Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity funds and must be spent by July 31, 2026, but Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said there was no obligation to spend the funds if testing wasn’t needed.

“We continue to urge all Michigan residents to use the tools available to them to protect themselves and their families from all respiratory viruses. This includes taking preventative measures such as testing and getting vaccinated for influenza, COVID-19 and RSV,” Sutfin said.

She said DHHS has continued to make COVID-19 testing available for free at several testing sites, wellness centers and participating libraries across the state.

“Although demand for testing has decreased from the early years of the pandemic, it remains an important tool to help protect residents and their families from this virus with an average of 5,400 tests per month occurring in 2024,” Sutfin said.

A list of testing sites is available on the DHHS website and people can still [Read More]

Patient and consumer advocates are looking to Kamala Harris to accelerate federal efforts to help people struggling with medical debt if she prevails in next month’s presidential election.

By STEPHANIE ARMOUR

Vice President Kamala Harris is seeing a surge of support from Black women voters, galvanized in part by her work on health care issues such as maternal mortality, reproductive rights, and gun control.

The enthusiasm may be key for Democratic turnout at the polls in critical battleground states.

Black women have always been among the most reliable voters in the Democratic base and were central to former President Barack Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012. Enthusiasm was also robust for President Joe Biden in 2020. But this year, before he bowed out of the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, his support among this critical demographic had been fading, which could have dampened turnout in swing states.

Black voters’ support for the top of the Democratic ticket has since increased. In July, before he left the race, 64% of Black voters supported Biden, according to the Pew Research Center. Seventy-seven percent of Black voters supported Harris in August.

Black voter turnout, especially in rural areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, could help propel Harris to victory. That support — especially among Black women — has swelled since Biden’s departure, polling shows.

“This is a renaissance,” said Holli Holliday, a lawyer in the Washington, D.C., area who [Read More]

KAITLYN DELBENE
Wachler & Associates, PC

The Office of Inspector General recently issued a report recommending increased oversight following a data analysis of Medicare fee-for-service claims for remote patient monitoring services. Providers should be aware of possible increased scrutiny by CMS, including audits and new proposed coverage criteria.

What Is Remote Patient Monitoring?

Remote patient monitoring (“RPM,” also at times referred to as remote physiologic monitoring) is the collection and transmission of health data in a patient’s home that providers use to remotely monitor a patient’s health status and manage a patient’s condition. To qualify as RPM, the monitoring device must automatically transmit data to the patient’s provider. The provider is then able to review the data, make decisions about the patient’s treatment, and communicate with the patient to discuss any recommendations, such as medication adjustments.

A common example of RPM is the use of a connected blood pressure cuff to regularly collect blood pressure readings in order for a provider to monitor a patient with hypertension. Medicare covers RPM for both chronic and acute conditions, but OIG found that the vast majority of patients are receiving RPM for chronic conditions. In the data reviewed by the OIG, more than half of the patients receiving RPM received it for hypertension. [Read More]