PAMED NEWS

House Bill 1200, a proposal to legalize cannabis for adult use in Pennsylvania, passed the House on May 7 in a 102–101 vote. The bill allows adults age 21 and older to purchase cannabis through a state-regulated system.

Jeff Truhan, a Ed.D candidate and Chief Quality Assurance Risk Management and Safety Officer at Keystone Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chambersburg, is examining an issue critical to the medical field: the reluctance of early-career primary care physicians to self-report medical errors.

This proposed rule would change and update policies and payment rates used under the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for FY 2026. This rulemaking also proposes to update the requirements for the SNF Quality Reporting Program and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program.

This proposed rule would update the prospective payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. As required by statute, this proposed rule includes the proposed classification and weighting factors for the IRF prospective payment system's case-mix groups and a description of the methodologies and data used in computing the prospective payment rates for FY 2026. It also continues the second year of the 3-year phaseout of the rural adjustment, which began in FY 2025. Additionally, the proposed rule includes updates to the IRF Quality Reporting Program (QRP).

This proposed rule would revise the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals; make changes relating to Medicare graduate medical education (GME) for teaching hospitals; update the payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals (LTCHs); update and make changes to requirements for certain quality programs; and make other policy-related changes.

This rulemaking proposes to update the prospective payment rates, the outlier threshold, and the wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs), which include psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or critical access hospital.

This proposed rule would update the hospice wage index, payment rates, and cap amount for FY 2026. In addition, this proposed rule would clarify in the payment regulations that the physician member of the hospice interdisciplinary group (IDG) may recommend admission to hospice.

The Statewide HPG has canceled the previously scheduled Wednesday, May 14, 2025, and Thursday, May 15, 2025, meetings.

Last week PAMED and the AMA filed an amici curiae brief asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reverse a Superior Court decision that, if left in place, would impose a lowered standard to establish liability in certain medical malpractice cases.

PAMED has been informed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) that a provider has been arrested, which means patients may not have access to care.

Though seasonal flu activity is low or minimal across the country, more children have died this flu season than at any time in the past 15 years.

In Pennsylvania, Legionella infections increase each year during spring, summer, and fall months (May-November).

On Sept 29, 2022, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an unfavorable ruling in a medical malpractice case in which PAMED had filed an amicus brief.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled unfavorably in a case concerning mental health treatment in which PAMED and the AMA filed an amici curiae brief. In Matos v. Geisinger Medical Center, et al., the court determined that an individual suffering a mental health crisis had triggered the Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA) when he appeared at Geisinger and requested inpatient treatment without completing a written application.

The Department of Human Services (Department) is announcing its intent to allocate funds beginning with Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-2026 to establish a new class of supplemental payments to qualifying Medical Assistance (MA) enrolled freestanding children's hospitals located in a city of the first class that serve a high percentage of MA beneficiaries.

The Department of Health (Department) is updating 28 Pa. Code Chapter 1141a, Appendix A (relating to serious medical conditions) to add ''Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with Chronic Symptoms'' and ''Type II Diabetes Mellitus'' to the list of serious medical conditions limited to Chapter 20 research purposes only.

The Statewide HIV Planning Group will hold public meetings at the Genetti Hotel, 200 West 4th Street, Williamsport, PA on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Thursday, May 15, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Earlier this week, PAMED and the AMA picked up another amicus case win from the Superior Court n Sinoracki et al. v. The Children’s Service Center of Wyoming Valley, et al. The case concerned the scope of mental health professionals’ duty to warn third parties of potential harm.

Tick bite-related emergency department visits have increased recently in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) stands in unwavering solidarity with the physicians, health care workers, and communities impacted by the closure of Crozer Health facilities in Philadelphia and Delaware County.