Episode Details

In this episode, Kristin DeGroat, Besler Holding’s Chief Legal Officer, provides us with a recap from the recent AHLA event in Baltimore.

Highlights of this episode include:

• How attendance was this year
• Reimbursement-related content
• Medicare Advantage changes

Kelly Wisness: Hi, this is Kelly Wisness. Welcome back to the award-winning Hospital Finance Podcast.  We’re pleased to welcome back Kristin DeGroat, Besler Holding’s Chief Legal Officer. In this episode, Kristin will provide us with a recap from the recent AHLA event in Baltimore. Welcome back, and thank you for joining us, Kristin.

Kristin DeGroat: Well, thank you for having me.

Kelly: Well, let’s go ahead and jump in. So how was attendance this year at the recent AHLA Institute on Medicare and Medicaid payment issues event in Baltimore?

Kristin: I think it was well attended. Last year, we weren’t able to hear from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Department of Health and Human Services, as they were unable to attend. However, this year they attended. I thought the attendance in terms of providers as well as government, and of course, the lawyers, but the consulting firms as well, I thought the attendance was great.

Kelly: That’s always a good thing to have everybody there. So, I know you’ve attended this event for more than 20 years now. How does this year’s AHLA event stack up to previous years’ events, you know, especially in regards to content?

Kristin: The content they provided was very helpful, especially in terms of reimbursement-related issues. And the speakers were amazing. We had the Office of General Counsel, the Office of the Inspector General, and, CMS all speak. And in fact, they were all female leaders. Beth Kelly, in particular, who’s the Deputy General Counsel in the Office of OGC, who also serves as the Chief Legal Officer, she said that the U.S. spends $4 trillion. That’s T, trillion, a year on healthcare.

Kelly: Wow.

Kristin: Yes, th