CMS Seeks Public Feedback to Improve Medicare Advantage

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Request for Information seeking public comment on the Medicare Advantage program. CMS is asking for input on ways to achieve the agency’s vision so that all parts of Medicare are working towards a future where people with Medicare receive more equitable, high quality, and person-centered care that is affordable and sustainable.

“Medicare Advantage is a critical part of CMS’ vision to advance health equity; expand access to affordable coverage and care; drive high quality, person-centered care; and promote affordability and sustainability of Medicare,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “Medicare Advantage plans are essential partners in this work.”

“We see a huge opportunity for partnership with as many stakeholders as possible to better understand how care innovations are changing outcomes and costs and how Medicare Advantage is working for enrollees,” said Dr. Meena Seshamani, CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare. “It’s important that CMS engage as many stakeholders as possible to achieve our collective vision of equity, access, quality and affordability.”

The CMS Strategic Pillars prioritize increased engagement with the agency’s partners and the communities we serve throughout the policy development and implementation process. CMS is committed to creating additional opportunities to engage the public and drive innovation in ways that best serve people with Medicare.

In the Medicare Advantage program – also known as Medicare Part C – Medicare contracts with private insurers that must offer all Traditional Medicare services to people with Medicare and may offer added supplemental benefits, such as vision or dental benefits. Most Medicare Advantage Plans also include prescription drug coverage (Part D).

CMS encourages the public to submit comments to the Request for Information. Feedback from plans, providers, beneficiary advocates, states, employers and unions, and other partners to this Request for Information will help inform the Medicare Advantage policy development and implementation process.

The Request for Information can be accessed from the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2022-16463/request-for-information-medicare-program
 

Understanding How Sound Suppresses Pain

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Studies dating back decades have shown that music and other kinds of sound can help alleviate acute and chronic pain in people. This is true for pain from dental and medical surgery, labor and delivery, and cancer. However, how the brain produces this pain reduction, called analgesia, was less clear.

An international team of scientists set out to use mice to explore the neural mechanisms through which sound blunts pain. The team was led by researchers at NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR); the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei; and Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China. Their study was published in Science on July 8, 2022.

The scientists first exposed mice with inflamed paws to three types of sound: a pleasant piece of classical music, an unpleasant rearrangement of the same piece, and white noise. Surprisingly, all three reduced pain sensitivity in the mice when played just slightly louder than background noise (about the level of a whisper). The effect lasted well beyond the sound itself—for at least two days after exposure to the sound three days in a row for 20 minutes. When played louder, the sounds had no effect on the animals’ pain responses.

Pain perception can be affected by emotions and stress. However, the scientists discovered that low-intensity sound didn’t affect the mice in tests of stress and anxiety. The finding shows that this particular type of sound affected the animal’s perception of pain through another mechanism.

Read Full Article
 

Submit a Nomination for the 2022 APTA Colorado Elections

The APTA Nominating Committee is seeking nominations for the 2022 APTA Colorado Board elections. Nominations are due by Sunday, July 31, 2022. The Nominating Committee is looking for volunteers to fill the following positions:

  • Treasurer (2 Year Term)
  • Director at Large - Finance Director (2 Year Term)
  • Delegate at Large (2 Year Term)

 To learn more about the elections, requirements to hold office and to submit your nomination, CLICK HERE. 
 

Share Your Research, Knowledge and Expertise!

Call for Poster Abstracts and Platforms for the 2022 Fall Conference!

We encourage all PTs, PTAs, and students to submit poster abstracts and platforms on case reports, special interest reports, or research projects. Posters and platforms submitted will be selected for presentation that demonstrates quality research and clinical relevance.

Please submit your abstract no later than Sunday, July 31, 2022 by e-mail to Michelle Rauzi, PT, DPT, Co-Chair of the Research Committee: [email protected]. When submitting your abstract, please indicate if you are submitting for a poster, platform or both.

For more information, click here! 

 
 

Renewal of Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19

On July 15, 2022, Secretary Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, renewed the PHE for COVID-19. The renewal is for 90 days, through October 14, 2022. The renewal states:

Renewal of Determination That a Public Health Emergency Exists
As a result of the continued consequences of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, on this date and after consultation with public health officials as necessary, I, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, do hereby renew, effective July 20, 2021, the January 31, 2020, determination by former Secretary Alex M. Azar II, that he previously renewed on April 21, 2020, July 23, 2020, October 2, 2020, and January 7, 2021, and that I renewed on April 15, 2021, July 19, 2021, October 15, 2021, January 14, 2022, and April 12, 2022, that a public health emergency exists and has existed since January 27, 2020, nationwide.
 
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