COVID-19

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, June 10

Coronavirus update for Wednesday, June 10 as of 3:00 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services On Tuesday HHS announced that it will be distributing $15 billion to clinicians and facilities that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs and/or Medicaid and CHIP managed care organizations that have not yet received any general distribution grants from the Provider Relief Fund. This funding is intended to supply relief to Medicaid and CHIP providers experiencing lost revenues or increased expenses due to COVID-19.  Examples of providers serving Medicaid/CHIP beneficiaries that may be eligible for this funding include pediatricians, obstetrician-gynecologists, dentists, opioid treatment [...]

2020-06-11T06:00:58-04:00June 11, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

New Distributions of Provider Relief Fund Money

On Tuesday morning the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will distribute $10 billion to hospitals located in COVID-19 hotspots that have cared for especially large numbers of COVID-19 patients.  It also will distribute $25 billion in CARES Act Provider Relief Fund money to safety-net providers, including $10 billion specifically for safety-net hospitals.  (Some of the language in this memo is taken directly from HHS’s news release.) The $10 Billion Distribution to COVID-19 Hotspot Hospitals On Monday HHS sent messages to all hospitals asking them to update information on their COVID-19 positive-inpatient admissions for the period January [...]

2020-06-10T06:00:52-04:00June 10, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Monday, June 8

Coronavirus update for Monday, June 8 as of 2:30 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has updated its “COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers” document.  Added since the last version are a new section, on page 14, on altered time lines for Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, along with two modifications:  one on page 10, addressing site-neutral payments for long-term care hospitals, and another on page 13, in support of care for patients in long-term care hospital patients. CMS – Stakeholder Engagement Calls CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related [...]

2020-06-09T06:00:02-04:00June 9, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Friday, June 5

Coronavirus update for Friday, June 5 as of 2:30 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services In the past week CMS issued six section 1135 waivers to give states greater flexibility to serve their Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  It issued waivers to Alaska (two waivers), Arizona, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The CDC has updated its guidance on recommendations for people who believe they have been exposed to people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 when the people to whom they have been exposed are neither health care workers nor critical infrastructure workers [...]

2020-06-08T09:51:56-04:00June 8, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for June 3

Coronavirus update for Wednesday, June 3 as of 12:00 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has updated its FAQ on Medicare COVID-19 fee-for-service billing.  All of the changes address national coverage determinations and are clearly marked within the document.  Providers should review them carefully. In response to COVID-19, CMS is providing new flexibilities and adjustments to current and future CMMI models to address the emergency.  It has released a chart that outlines the models and the new changes.  CMS also has written a blog post describing additional CMMI model flexibilities. CMS has released guidance to states supporting implementation of the Optional COVID-19 Testing (XXIII) Group­­­ established by [...]

2020-06-04T10:42:06-04:00June 4, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Tuesday, June 2

Coronavirus update for Tuesday, June 2, 2020 as of 2:45 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services The Quality, Safety & Oversight Group of CMS’s Center for Clinical Standards and Quality has written to state Medicaid agencies about COVID-19 survey activities, CARES Act funding, and enhanced enforcement for infection control deficiencies and quality improvement activities in nursing homes. The memo calls on states to do a more complete job of inspecting nursing homes for their infection control efforts, proposes penalties for states that fail to do so, and explains that CMS will allocate CARES Act funding based on performance-based metrics.  [...]

2020-06-03T06:00:44-04:00June 3, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Monday, June 1

Coronavirus update for Monday, June 1 as of 3:00 pm. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has added to and modified its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ.  Find additions on pages 2, 4, 5, 8, 23, 24, and 25 and modifications on pages 8, 9, and 19.  The latest changes are identified as added or modified on 5/26 or 5/29.  Providers should review these changes carefully. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has issued new guidance to clarify when providers must use modifier CR (catastrophe/disaster-related) and/or condition code DR (disaster-related) when submitting claims to Medicare.  The guidance applies [...]

2020-06-02T06:00:28-04:00June 2, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 29, 2020

Coronavirus update for Friday, May 29 as of 2:30 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services In the past week CMS issued five section 1135 waivers to give states greater flexibility to serve their Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  It issued waivers to Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Vermont. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The CDC has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for two specific commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19 intended for self-collection in the home or in health care settings. Find them here and here. The CDC has published information on considerations when preparing [...]

2020-06-01T06:00:15-04:00June 1, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 28, 2020

Coronavirus update for Thursday, May 28 as of 2:30 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has updated its COVID-19 FAQs on Medicare fee-for-service billing with additional or revised answers to the following sections: Expansion of Virtual Communication Services for FQHCs/RHCs – questions 11-23 Medicare Telehealth (please note that these FAQs do not include flexibilities that might be exercised under the CARES act) – questions 23-33 General Billing Requirements – questions 2 and 3 Diagnosis Coding under International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) – question 1 Chronic Care Management Services – question 1 Outpatient Therapy Services [...]

2020-05-29T06:00:11-04:00May 29, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Uncategorized|

Coronavirus Update for May 27, 2020

Coronavirus update for Wednesday, May 27 as of 2:30 p.m. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has published a fact sheet for state and local governments on how to seek payments from CMS programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP for outpatient services and acute inpatient care provided at alternative care sites established in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Department of Health and Human Services ASPR TRACIE, sponsored by HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to provide Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) services, in collaboration with the HHS/FEMA COVID-19 Healthcare Resilience [...]

2020-05-28T08:51:33-04:00May 28, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|
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