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. [...]

iqtsupport2020-06-03T06:00:44-04:00June 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 [...]

iqtsupport2020-06-02T06:00:28-04:00June 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 [...]

iqtsupport2020-06-01T06:00:15-04:00June 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 [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-29T06:00:11-04:00May 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 [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-28T08:51:33-04:00May 28, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 26, 2020

Coronavirus update for Tuesday, May 26 as of 2:30 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has submitted its required report to Congress detailing its COVID-19 strategic testing plan. HHS announced a 45-day extension for providers that are receiving grants from the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund to accept the terms and conditions for those payments. This means providers have now been granted 90 days from the date they received a payment to accept the terms and conditions or return the money. ASPR TRACIE, sponsored by HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to provide [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-27T06:00:48-04:00May 27, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 22, 2020

Coronavirus update for Friday, May 22 as of 3:30 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has updated its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund page, adding a new section on allocations for skilled nursing facilities. That new section is the foundation for HHS’s announcement that it has begun distributing nearly $4.9 billion in relief funds to skilled nursing facilities to help them respond to the effects of COVID-19. Each SNF will receive a fixed distribution of $50,000 plus $2500 per bed. All certified SNFs with six or more certified beds are eligible for this targeted distribution. HHS has updated [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-25T06:00:52-04:00May 25, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 21, 2020

Coronavirus update for Thursday, May 21 as of 3:30 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has again updated its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ. HHS has announced that it is collaborating with Astra Zeneca to make available at least 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine called AZD1222, with the first doses delivered as early as October of this year. HHS has notified skilled nursing facilities of its intent to distribute additional Provider Relief Fund grants to them. According to email communication directly from HHS to those providers, “Each SNF will receive a fixed distribution of $50,000, [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-22T06:00:25-04:00May 22, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 20, 2020

Coronavirus update for May 20, 2020 as of 2:30 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has updated its FAQ for the distribution of CARES Act money through the Provider Relief Fund on four occasions in the past two weeks, including new updates dated yesterday. Updates from yesterday include instructions on attestation and questions about change in ownership. Go here to see the changes, which are identified within the document. HHS announced that its Health Resources and Services Administration provided $225 million to rural health clinics for COVID-19 testing and shared a state-by-state breakdown of the funding. Centers [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-21T06:00:59-04:00May 21, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for May 19, 2020

Coronavirus update for May 19, 2020 as of 2:30 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has updated its FAQ for the distribution of CARES Act money through the Provider Relief Fund on three occasions in the past two weeks. Go here to see the changes, which are identified within the document. HHS is providing $11 billion in new funding to support COVID-19 testing to states, territories, and tribes. States must submit to HHS their projected month-to-month testing plans and capabilities for the rest of calendar year 2020. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS issued recommendations on [...]

iqtsupport2020-05-20T06:00:38-04:00May 20, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|