04-30-2020, 07:23 PM
Trump Administration Issues Second Round
of Sweeping Changes to Support U.S. Healthcare
System During COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 30, 2020
At President Trump’s direction, and building on its recent historic efforts to
help the U.S. healthcare system manage the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today
issued another round of sweeping regulatory waivers and rule changes to
deliver expanded care to the nation’s seniors and provide flexibility to the
healthcare system as America reopens. These changes include making it
easier for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to get tested for COVID-19
and continuing CMS’s efforts to further expand beneficiaries’ access to
telehealth services.
CMS is taking action to ensure states and localities have the flexibilities
they need to ramp up diagnostic testing and access to medical care, key
precursors to ensuring a phased, safe, and gradual reopening of America.
Today’s actions are informed by requests from healthcare providers as
well as by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or
CARES Act. CMS’s goals during the pandemic are to
1) expand the healthcare workforce by removing barriers for physicians,
nurses, and other clinicians to be readily hired from the local community
or other states;
2) ensure that local hospitals and health systems have the capacity
to handle COVID-19 patients through temporary expansion sites
(also known as the CMS Hospital Without Walls initiative);
3) increase access to telehealth for Medicare patients so they
can get care from their physicians and other clinicians while
staying safely at home;
4) expand at-home and community-based testing to minimize
transmission of COVID-19 among Medicare and Medicaid
beneficiaries; and
5) put patients over paperwork by giving providers, healthcare
facilities, Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, and states
temporary relief from many reporting and audit requirements
so they can focus on patient care.
“I’m very encouraged that the sacrifices of the American people
during the pandemic are working. The war is far from over, but
in various areas of the country the tide is turning in our favor,”
said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “Building on what was
already extraordinary, unprecedented relief for the American
healthcare system, CMS is seeking to capitalize on our gains by
helping to safely reopen the American healthcare system in
accord with President Trump's guidelines.”
Made possible by President Trump’s recent emergency declaration
and emergency rule making, many of CMS’s temporary changes will
apply immediately for the duration of the Public Health Emergency
declaration. They build on an unprecedented array of temporary
regulatory waivers and new rules CMS announced March 30 and
April 10. Providers and states do not need to apply for the blanket
waivers announced today and can begin using the flexibilities
immediately. CMS also is requiring nursing homes to inform residents,
their families, and representatives of COVID-19 outbreaks in their facilities.
[b]New rules to support and expand COVID-19 diagnostic [/b]
[b]testing for [/b][b]Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries[/b]
“Testing is vital, and CMS’s changes will make getting tested easier and
more accessible for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries,” Verma said.
Under the new waivers and rule changes, Medicare will no longer require
an order from the treating physician or other practitioner for beneficiaries
to get COVID-19 tests and certain laboratory tests required as part of a
COVID-19 diagnosis. During the Public Health Emergency, COVID-19 tests
may be covered when ordered by any healthcare professional authorized
to do so under state law. To help ensure that Medicare beneficiaries
have broad access to testing related to COVID-19, a written practitioner’s
order is no longer required for the COVID-19 test for Medicare payment purposes.
Pharmacists can work with a physician or other practitioner to provide
assessment and specimen collection services, and the physician or
other practitioner can bill Medicare for the services. Pharmacists also can
perform certain COVID-19 tests if they are enrolled in Medicare as a
laboratory, in accordance with a pharmacist’s scope of practice and
state law. With these changes, beneficiaries can get tested at “parking lot”
test sites operated by pharmacies and other entities consistent with
state requirements. Such point-of-care sites are a key component in
expanding COVID-19 testing capacity.
CMS will pay hospitals and practitioners to assess beneficiaries and
collect laboratory samples for COVID-19 testing, and make separate
payment when that is the only service the patient receives. This
builds on previous action to pay laboratories for technicians to
collect samples for COVID-19 testing from homebound beneficiaries
and those in certain non-hospital settings, and encourages broader
testing by hospitals and physician practices.
To help facilitate expanded testing and reopen the country, CMS is
announcing that Medicare and Medicaid are covering certain
serology (antibody) tests, which may aid in determining whether
a person may have developed an immune response and may
not be at immediate risk for COVID-19 reinfection. Medicare and
Medicaid will cover laboratory processing of certain FDA-authorized
tests that beneficiaries self-collect at home.
[b]Additional highlights of the waivers and rule changes [/b]
[b]announced today:[/b]
[b]Increase Hospital Capacity - CMS Hospitals Without Walls[/b]
Under its Hospitals Without Walls initiative. CMS has taken multiple
steps to allow hospitals to provide services in other healthcare
facilities and sites that aren’t part of the existing hospital, and to
set up temporary expansion sites to help address patient needs.
Previously, hospitals were required to provide services within
their existing departments.
FULL STORY HERE
of Sweeping Changes to Support U.S. Healthcare
System During COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 30, 2020
At President Trump’s direction, and building on its recent historic efforts to
help the U.S. healthcare system manage the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today
issued another round of sweeping regulatory waivers and rule changes to
deliver expanded care to the nation’s seniors and provide flexibility to the
healthcare system as America reopens. These changes include making it
easier for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to get tested for COVID-19
and continuing CMS’s efforts to further expand beneficiaries’ access to
telehealth services.
CMS is taking action to ensure states and localities have the flexibilities
they need to ramp up diagnostic testing and access to medical care, key
precursors to ensuring a phased, safe, and gradual reopening of America.
Today’s actions are informed by requests from healthcare providers as
well as by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or
CARES Act. CMS’s goals during the pandemic are to
1) expand the healthcare workforce by removing barriers for physicians,
nurses, and other clinicians to be readily hired from the local community
or other states;
2) ensure that local hospitals and health systems have the capacity
to handle COVID-19 patients through temporary expansion sites
(also known as the CMS Hospital Without Walls initiative);
3) increase access to telehealth for Medicare patients so they
can get care from their physicians and other clinicians while
staying safely at home;
4) expand at-home and community-based testing to minimize
transmission of COVID-19 among Medicare and Medicaid
beneficiaries; and
5) put patients over paperwork by giving providers, healthcare
facilities, Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, and states
temporary relief from many reporting and audit requirements
so they can focus on patient care.
“I’m very encouraged that the sacrifices of the American people
during the pandemic are working. The war is far from over, but
in various areas of the country the tide is turning in our favor,”
said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “Building on what was
already extraordinary, unprecedented relief for the American
healthcare system, CMS is seeking to capitalize on our gains by
helping to safely reopen the American healthcare system in
accord with President Trump's guidelines.”
Made possible by President Trump’s recent emergency declaration
and emergency rule making, many of CMS’s temporary changes will
apply immediately for the duration of the Public Health Emergency
declaration. They build on an unprecedented array of temporary
regulatory waivers and new rules CMS announced March 30 and
April 10. Providers and states do not need to apply for the blanket
waivers announced today and can begin using the flexibilities
immediately. CMS also is requiring nursing homes to inform residents,
their families, and representatives of COVID-19 outbreaks in their facilities.
[b]New rules to support and expand COVID-19 diagnostic [/b]
[b]testing for [/b][b]Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries[/b]
“Testing is vital, and CMS’s changes will make getting tested easier and
more accessible for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries,” Verma said.
Under the new waivers and rule changes, Medicare will no longer require
an order from the treating physician or other practitioner for beneficiaries
to get COVID-19 tests and certain laboratory tests required as part of a
COVID-19 diagnosis. During the Public Health Emergency, COVID-19 tests
may be covered when ordered by any healthcare professional authorized
to do so under state law. To help ensure that Medicare beneficiaries
have broad access to testing related to COVID-19, a written practitioner’s
order is no longer required for the COVID-19 test for Medicare payment purposes.
Pharmacists can work with a physician or other practitioner to provide
assessment and specimen collection services, and the physician or
other practitioner can bill Medicare for the services. Pharmacists also can
perform certain COVID-19 tests if they are enrolled in Medicare as a
laboratory, in accordance with a pharmacist’s scope of practice and
state law. With these changes, beneficiaries can get tested at “parking lot”
test sites operated by pharmacies and other entities consistent with
state requirements. Such point-of-care sites are a key component in
expanding COVID-19 testing capacity.
CMS will pay hospitals and practitioners to assess beneficiaries and
collect laboratory samples for COVID-19 testing, and make separate
payment when that is the only service the patient receives. This
builds on previous action to pay laboratories for technicians to
collect samples for COVID-19 testing from homebound beneficiaries
and those in certain non-hospital settings, and encourages broader
testing by hospitals and physician practices.
To help facilitate expanded testing and reopen the country, CMS is
announcing that Medicare and Medicaid are covering certain
serology (antibody) tests, which may aid in determining whether
a person may have developed an immune response and may
not be at immediate risk for COVID-19 reinfection. Medicare and
Medicaid will cover laboratory processing of certain FDA-authorized
tests that beneficiaries self-collect at home.
[b]Additional highlights of the waivers and rule changes [/b]
[b]announced today:[/b]
[b]Increase Hospital Capacity - CMS Hospitals Without Walls[/b]
Under its Hospitals Without Walls initiative. CMS has taken multiple
steps to allow hospitals to provide services in other healthcare
facilities and sites that aren’t part of the existing hospital, and to
set up temporary expansion sites to help address patient needs.
Previously, hospitals were required to provide services within
their existing departments.
- CMS is giving providers flexibility during the pandemic to increase the number of beds for COVID-19 patients while receiving stable, predictable Medicare payments. For example, teaching hospitals can increase the number of temporary beds without facing reduced payments for indirect medical education. In addition, inpatient psychiatric facilities and inpatient rehabilitation facilities can admit more patients to alleviate pressure on acute-care hospital bed capacity without facing reduced teaching status payments. Similarly, hospital systems that include rural health clinics can increase their bed capacity without affecting the rural health clinic’s payments.
- CMS is excepting certain requirements to enable freestanding inpatient rehabilitation facilities to accept patients from acute-care hospitals experiencing a surge, even if the patients do not require rehabilitation care. This makes use of available beds in freestanding inpatient rehabilitation facilities and helps acute-care hospitals to make room for COVID-19 patients.
- CMS is highlighting flexibilities that allow payment for outpatient hospital services -- such as wound care, drug administration, and behavioral health services -- that are delivered in temporary expansion locations, including parking lot tents, converted hotels, or patients’ homes (when they’re temporarily designated as part of a hospital).
- Under current law, most provider-based hospital outpatient departments that relocate off-campus are paid at lower rates under the Physician Fee Schedule, rather than the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). CMS will allow certain provider-based hospital outpatient departments that relocate off-campus to obtain a temporary exception and continue to be paid under the OPPS. Importantly, hospitals may also relocate outpatient departments to more than one off-campus location, or partially relocate off-campus while still furnishing care at the original site.
- Long-term acute-care hospitals can now accept any acute-care hospital patients and be paid at a higher Medicare payment rate, as mandated by the CARES Act. This will make better use during the pandemic of available beds and staffing in long-term acute-care hospitals.
FULL STORY HERE
Semper Fidelis
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