COVID-19

Coronavirus update for Monday, May 4 as of 2:30 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services Last Friday HHS began processing $22 billion in payments from the CARES Act’s provider relief fund to hospitals with large numbers of COVID-19 admissions through April 10 and to rural providers in support of the national response to COVID-19.  See HHS’s announcement of the distribution of this money, including a breakdown by state of grant recipients.   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has posted a presentation that elaborates on the regulatory changes the agency introduced last week.  It includes explanations of how [...]

Coronavirus update for Friday, May 1 as of 4:00 p.m. Follow-Up to Thursday’s Interim Final Rule Release On Thursday CMS released a second interim final rule with comment period announcing a new round of regulatory waivers and rule changes to provide additional flexibility to the health care system as the COVID-19 crisis continues and the country begins to reopen. These changes included some of the telehealth flexibilities providers have asked for in recent weeks, such as hospital reimbursement for the originating site when telehealth services for Medicare patients are furnished by a physician or practitioner who ordinarily practices in a [...]

Coronavirus update for Thursday, April 23 as of 5:00 p.m. Congress The House has passed H.R. 266, the $384 billion COVID-19 relief/economic stimulus bill  that includes $75 billion for health care providers and $25 billion for testing. Department of Health and Human Services Providers that received an email from CMS on Sunday night informing them that they are in a COVID-19 hotspot were directed to register their information through https://www.teletracking.com/ by noon on Saturday, April 25.  Doing so does not guarantee eligibility for a share of the $10 billion that CMS announced yesterday that it would be distributing among providers that have [...]

Coronavirus update for April 22 as of 4:30 p.m. Distribution of Additional CARES Act Funding Today the Department of Health and Human Services announced how it will distribute the remaining $70 billion of the $100 billion designated in the CARES Act for health care providers.  See a news release describing that plan here. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has posted a new toolkit to help state and local health care decision-makers maximize workforce flexibilities when confronting COVID-19 in their communities.  The toolkit is a curated set of previously released resources and tools for decision-makers managing health care workforce [...]

Coronavirus update for April 21 as of 5:00 p.m. Congress and Administration Agree on Next Aid Package Congressional leaders and the Trump administration have agreed to provide $75 billion for hospitals as part of a $484 billion COVID-19 and economic relief package.  This $75 billion would be addition to the money from the CARES Act and would have the same parameters as the CARES Act money. The bill also includes $25 billion to research, develop, validate, manufacture, purchase, administer, and expand capacity for COVID-19 tests.  Among others, this $25 billion would be distributed as follows: $11 billion for states, localities, [...]