Policy Updates

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE FOR APRIL 24, 2020

Coronavirus update for Friday, April 24 as of 4:00 p.m. Attention: Health Care Providers HHS has extended until 3:00 p.m. (eastern) on Saturday, April 25 the deadline for providers to submit data that will be used to determine how it will allocate the $10 billion it will be distributing to providers hit especially hard by COVID-19. Providers that have been targeted for possible assistance from this pool have already been notified of the need to submit data, although such notice does not assure funding. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has launched a COVID-19 partner toolkit that includes links to almost [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-25T07:34:38-04:00April 25, 2020|Coronavirus|

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE FOR APRIL 22, 2020

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 [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-24T08:55:48-04:00April 24, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 22, 2020

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 [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-23T06:00:01-04:00April 23, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 21, 2020

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, [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-22T08:31:16-04:00April 22, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 20, 2020

Coronavirus update for April 20, 2020. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has issued guidance on providing non-essential non-COVID-19 care to patients without symptoms of COVID-19 in regions with low and stable incidence of COVID-19. It views this guidance as part of phase one of the administration’s plan to reopen the U.S. economy. See CMS’s news release on this guidance here and the guidance itself here. Under this guidance, individual states will determine for themselves when it is appropriate to begin the “reopening” process. As a practical matter, only Oklahoma, Texas, and Alaska, to our knowledge, have identified concrete [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-21T06:00:38-04:00April 21, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 17, 2020

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 17. The White House President Trump has unveiled “Guidelines for Opening Up America Again,” a three-phase approach to reopening the economy. Find that plan here. President Trump has signed a memorandum authorizing the use of the National Guard by governors in five more states to help with their response to the COVID-19 emergency, with the cost of National Guard assistance to be assumed 100 percent by the federal government. The five states are Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Vermont. Centers [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-20T06:00:09-04:00April 20, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 16, 2020

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government and others as of 4:00 on Thursday, April 16. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has established a portal for recipients of CARES Act funding designated for hospitals and health care providers to attest to their acceptance of the terms and conditions of these grants. Recipients must complete this attestation within 30 days of receipt of a grant. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has updated its list of blanket waivers for health care providers. CMS updates this document regularly, with the latest update including changes [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-17T06:00:39-04:00April 17, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 15, 2020

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15. The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of Wednesday, April 15 at 4:00 p.m. The White House Yesterday President Trump announced the creation of the Dynamic Ventilator Reserve program through which health care providers with a surplus of ventilators will be able to share their reserves with hospitals that need additional ventilators. Hospitals, the president noted when discussing this program, are already doing this, and he said the federal government will develop a reserve of ventilators [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-16T06:00:08-04:00April 16, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 14, 2020

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from federal regulators and others as of 4:00 pm. on Tuesday, April 14. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has posted a new FAQ on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act). Among other subjects, this FAQ addresses the emergency period described in the Families First law; the new optional Medicaid eligibility group; benefits and cost-sharing for COVID-19-related testing and diagnosis; implications for the CHIP program; implications for the basic health program; changes in federal medical assistance matching funds (FMAP) adopted [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-15T06:00:48-04:00April 15, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for April 13, 2020

The following is the latest information from federal regulators and others as of 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 13. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has published its terms and conditions for providers that accept grants from the $100 billion in the CARES Act designated for hospitals and other health care providers. The HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has updated its FAQ on administrative enforcement authorities addressing arrangements directly connected to the COVID-19 crisis to include answers to two new questions about providers providing free or reduced-rate services to skilled nursing facilities and hospitals extending free, HIPAA-based [...]

iqtsupport2020-04-14T06:00:31-04:00April 14, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|