• $1 billion in both fiscal 2018 and 2019 to the National Institutes of Health for "additional scientific research"
• $3 billion in both fiscal 2018 and 2019 to combat the opioid epidemic, including state grants, prevention programs and law enforcement activities
• $2 billion in both fiscal 2018 and 2019 to the Veterans Affairs Department to rebuild health clinics
• Extends funding through fiscal 2024, tacking on four years to the reauthorization that was enacted in January
• Increases from 10,000 to 15,000 the number of seniors who can participate in the Independence at Home Demonstration Program, which tests delivering primary-care services at home. The program will also be extended by two years.
• Creates greater opportunities for Medicare Advantage plans to participate in a CMS pilot testing new payment models for chronically ill patients.
• Broadens opportunities for Medicare Advantage plans to offer telehealth services to beneficiaries
• Creates more flexibility for accountable care organizations to use telehealth services
• Expands telehealth services for stroke patients
• Allows ACOs to decide if a beneficiary should be assigned prospectively at the beginning of a performance year
• Aims to make it easier for two-sided risk ACOs to coordinate care
• Eliminates a requirement that the CMS make health IT standards more stringent over time
• Kills the Independent Payment Advisory Board
• Accelerates closure of the so-called donut hole for Part D drug costs
• Further slows the rollout of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System
• Permanently repeals the cap for outpatient therapy services
• Extends for five years low-volume hospital payments
• Extends the existing formula for Medicare-dependent hospitals by five years
• Extends the 2018 rate for the rural home health add-one by one year, then phases it down
• Broadens ability of physicians assistants, nurse practitioners and others to participate in such things as hospice care and certain rehabilitation services
• Funds community health centers—$3.8 billion in fiscal 2018 and $4 billion in fiscal 2019
• Funds the National Health Services Corps through 2019
• Lawmakers took a number of steps to offset the increased healthcare spending, including reducing the update for the physician fee schedule in 2019, reducing payments for outpatient physical therapy and cutting $1.35 billion over 10 years from the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
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