Health and community aid agencies across Central Massachusetts and just beyond have received more than $181,000 in grants from community foundations based in Fitchburg and Lowell.
The grants to 16 agencies were announced Monday by the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts and the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, whose combined Nashoba Valley Community Healthcare Fund provides annual funding to organizations, municipalities and agencies in 13 communities from Bolton to Westford to Ashby.
This year s recipients:
$20,000 to Framingham-based Advocates for its Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Local Seniors program
$20,000 to Clear Path for Veterans-New England in Devens for a brain neural mapping program and integrated health and wellness program for veterans
Highlights
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Calendar Year (CY) 2021 Final Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), which contains updates to the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The MPFS dictates Medicare rates and policies under Part B, while the QPP implements two value-based payment programs: the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APMs).
Among notable changes, CMS has proposed to make permanent certain telehealth changes that have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), confirmed the evaluation and management (E/M) documentation guidelines and payment changes finalized in the 2020 MPFS, and delayed the MIPS Value Pathway (MVP) until the 2022 performance period or later.