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Coronavirus Update for April 2, 2020

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from federal regulators and others as of 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  The CDC has published official and detailed ICD-10-CM coding and reporting guidelines for COVID-19 and COVID-19-related medical problems.  These instructions took effect on April 1 and extend through September 30. The CDC has published guidance on the decontamination and reuse of filtering facepiece respirators using contingency and crisis capacity strategies.   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has been hosting regular calls with a variety of clinicians, hospitals, other facilities, and states in an effort to keep [...]

2020-04-02T17:29:45-04:00April 2, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update: April 1, 2020

Coronavirus Update: April 1, 2020 Medicaid DSH The following is a revised schedule of Medicaid DSH allotment cuts.   Before CARES After CARES FFY 2020 $4 Billion $0 FFY 2021 $8 Billion $4 Billion FFY 2022 $8 Billion $8 Billion FFY 2023 $8 Billion $8 Billion FFY 2024 $8 Billion $8 Billion FFY 2025 $8 Billion $8 Billion Total $44 Billion $36 Billion   Centers for Disease Control Prevention The CDC has updated its guidance on responsible actions when among people who have been or may have been exposed to COVID-19. Food and Drug Administration The FDA has updated its [...]

2020-04-01T17:41:48-04:00April 1, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update: March 31, 2020

Coronavirus Update: March 31, 2020 Yesterday the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a major update of Medicare and Medicaid regulations that included blanket waivers of a large number of Medicare and Medicaid regulations and requirements.  The following is a summary of the major aspects of this new regulation. New Policies and Waivers From Medicare and Medicaid Regulations and Requirements CMS has introduced dozens of changes that involve waivers from current regulations and requirements.  A comprehensive, 26-page CMS document describing these changes can be found here and below are the highlights organized into four broad categories: increasing [...]

Coronavirus Update: March 30, 2020

Coronavirus Update: March 30, 2020.  The following is the latest information from the administration and federal regulators as of 4:15 today. The White House Vice President Pence has written to all hospitals asking them to provide to the Department of Health and Human Services daily statistics on all of their in-house COVID-19 testing and results. The White House has published its executive order on exercising the president’s authority under the Defense Production Act on matters involving health and medical resources.   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has posted a fact sheet explaining to health care provider how to [...]

2020-03-30T17:20:28-04:00March 30, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update: March 27, 2020

The following is the latest information from Congress, federal regulators, and others as of 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 27. Congress The House of Representatives passed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by the Senate late Wednesday.  It now goes to the president for his signature and he has indicated he will sign it. The Administration President Trump President Trump sent a letter to governors thanking them for their efforts in fighting the COVID-19 emergency, outlining upcoming federal efforts, and expressing hope for the future. Department of Health and Human Services  The Department of Health [...]

2020-03-28T12:40:23-04:00March 28, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

MedPAC Offers 2021 Medicare Rate Recommendations

MedPAC has recommended to Congress changes in Medicare payment rates in the coming year. In its annual report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended the following rate changes: acute-care hospitals – a two percent rate increase and a suggestion that the difference between this two percent increase and the payment increase specified by law be used to increase the rewards hospitals may earn under Medicare’s hospital value incentive program.  As a result, the value incentive program would offer a possible 0.8 percent in bonus payments, and with the recommended elimination of the 0.5 percent penalty for which hospitals [...]

CMS Posts COVID-19 FAQ for State Medicaid and CHIP Agencies

State Medicaid agencies and CHIP programs have received new guidance on the federal resources available to them to fight the COVID-19 national health emergency through a new FAQ published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week. Among the issues addressed in the FAQ are eligibility, enrollment, benefits, cost sharing, workforce issues, telehealth, and more.  Health care providers may find this information useful when serving their patients. See CMS’s news release describing the FAQ here and the FAQ itself here.

CMS Authorizes Waiving of Some Medicare Coronavirus Fees

Medicare Advantage organizations, Medicare Part D plans, and Medicare-Medicaid managed care plans have been directed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to waive cost-sharing for testing and treatment of the novel coronavirus. This news was transmitted to those payers in a March 10 letter from CMS. The directive also authorizes Medicare Advantage plans to waive coronavirus-related telehealth fees and authorizes Part D plans to relax refill-too-soon limits, provide maximum expended day supplies of prescription drugs, reimburse enrollees for prescription drugs obtained from out-of-network pharmacies, ease prior authorization limits on drugs prescribed to treat patients with the disease, and [...]

2020-03-12T06:00:10-04:00March 12, 2020|Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Block Grants Could Hurt Medicaid, Study Finds

A switch to block grants to fund state Medicaid programs “…would require states to cut coverage, reduce benefits, increase cost-sharing, lower provider payment rates, or otherwise reduce Medicaid expenditures as compared to current law spending levels” according to a new Commonwealth Fund study. The study, conducted in the wake of the Trump administration’s new guidance on how states can transform their Medicaid programs into block grants and its encouragement that they do so, suggests that such efforts could result in considerable harm to Medicaid beneficiaries, providers of Medicaid-covered services, and state government finances.  Meanwhile, the federal government’s share of state [...]

2020-03-11T11:34:50-04:00March 11, 2020|Medicaid|
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