Policy Updates

Coronavirus Update for Friday, January 15

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Friday, January 15. We also present a summary of selected aspects of the “American Rescue Plan” that President-elect Biden presented on Thursday night and an introduction to the newest members of his COVID-19 response team. Provider Relief Fund HHS has amended the reporting timeline for the Provider Relief Fund in response to passage of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Starting today, recipients may begin registering for gateway access to the reporting portal where they ultimately will submit their information in compliance [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-18T06:00:58-05:00January 18, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Feds Give States Direction for Addressing Social Determinants of Health

Federal laws, regulations, and programs offer numerous tools to states seeking to address social determinants of health through their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Now, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has written to state Medicaid directors outlining those tools. In the 51-page letter, CMS notes that Many Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries may face challenges related to SDOH [social determinants of health], including but not limited to access to nutritious food, affordable and accessible housing, convenient and efficient transportation, safe neighborhoods, strong social connections, quality education, and opportunities for meaningful employment. There is a growing body of evidence [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-15T06:00:58-05:00January 15, 2021|Medicaid|

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, January 13

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13. Provider Relief Fund HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with nine new or modified questions on pages 12-13, 13, 15 (three questions), 40-41, 41, and 56. The new and modified questions address how changes of ownership affect providers’ ability to receive Provider Relief Fund grants and nursing home quality incentive payments; answer questions about audit deadlines and extensions; and describe the methodology for calculating Phase 3 distributions and the timing and size of those distributions. Providers that have received [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-14T06:00:43-05:00January 14, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Monday, January 11

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Monday, January 11. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has formally extended its declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days, until April 21. HHS has announced the extension of its Community Based Testing Site program for COVID-19 testing. Through partnerships with national pharmacy and retail chains and service providers, this program has resulted in establishing more than 3,300 COVID-19 testing locations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-12T06:00:49-05:00January 12, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, January 6

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6. Provider Relief Fund The Office of Management and Budget has issued guidance on how funds received through the Provider Relief Fund should be audited. Entities that receive government grants of more than $750,000 are subject to a single audit requirement. Because of the Provider Relief Fund, many hospitals that have never been subject to this audit requirement now must comply with it. The deadline originally was October 1 but was postponed and it has now been delayed again until June 30. [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-07T06:00:37-05:00January 7, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Congress Approves New GME Slots

The year-end federal COVID-19 relief bill brought changes to Medicare’s graduate medical education program. Among those changes: 200 new GME slots over the next five years additional federal funding for residency training – the first new funding for the program in nearly a quarter of a century new opportunities for some hospitals to establish new (and higher) resident caps new flexibilities for rural hospitals to participate in physician training programs Learn more in the National Law Review article “COVID-19: Reimbursement Corner: Graduate Medical Education Gets Major Boost From Congressional Appropriations Bill.”

iqtsupport2021-01-06T06:00:33-05:00January 6, 2021|Medicare|

Coronvirus Update for January 4, 2021

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, January 4. Provider Relief Fund HHS has updated its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ with six changes, all dated 12/28/2020. They can be found on pages 6 (accounting for Provider Relief Fund distributions), 16 (use of Provider Relief Fund grant money), 40 (HHS’s methodology for calculating Phase 3 distributions), 41 (two changes: one about how much providers should expect to receive from the Phase 3 distribution and the other about when providers can expect to receive their Phase 3 distributions), and 56 [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-05T06:00:00-05:00January 5, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, December 23

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23. Provider Relief Fund The Office of Management and Budget has issued guidance on how funds received through the Provider Relief Fund should be audited. The guidance also extends audit filing deadlines for three months for recipients whose original audit due dates are between October 1, 2020 and June 20, 2021. HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with three new questions on pages 5 and 6 addressing the Form 1099. All are marked “Added 12/18/2020.” HHS has updated the Provider Relief [...]

iqtsupport2020-12-24T06:00:36-05:00December 24, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Friday, December 18

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as 3:30 p.m. on Friday, December 18. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has issued an Interim Final Rule with Comment Period that establishes a New COVID-19 Treatments Add-on Payment (NCTAP) under the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system effective from November 2, 2020 until the end of the public health emergency for COVID-19. To mitigate potential financial disincentives for hospitals to provide new COVID-19 treatments during the COVID-19 emergency, Medicare will provide an enhanced payment for eligible inpatient cases that involve use of certain new products with current [...]

iqtsupport2020-12-21T06:00:40-05:00December 21, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

States, Feds Not Adequately Monitoring Medicaid MLTSS

With more states delegating their programs of Medicaid managed long-term services and supports to managed care entities, state Medicaid programs and the federal government are not adequately overseeing the work of those managed care plans. As a result, they sometimes fail to notice quality and access problems for beneficiaries, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. When states delegate to managed care plans decisions about the amount and types of services that adults and children with physical, cognitive, and mental disabilities will receive, federal guidelines require states to monitor those decisions for appropriateness. In too many cases, the GAO has [...]

iqtsupport2020-12-21T06:00:34-05:00December 21, 2020|Medicaid long-term services and supports|