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April 21, 2020
Here is a summary of recent Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services (CMS) actions taken in response to the
2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), as part of the ongoing White
House Task Force efforts. To keep up with the important work the
Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19, click here www.coronavirus.gov. For
information specific to CMS, please visit the CMS News Room and Current Emergencies Website. CMS
updates these resources on an ongoing basis throughout the day;
the information below is current as of April 21, 2020 at 12:00
p.m.
CMS Issues Recommendations to Re-Open Health Care
Systems in Areas with Low Incidence of COVID-19
As the United States continues to face the
unprecedented public health emergency from the COVID-19 pandemic,
the tide is turning and some areas throughout the country are
seeing a decline in cases. As states and localities begin to
stabilize, CMS is issuing guidance on providing essential
non-COVID-19 care to patients without symptoms of COVID-19 in
regions with low and stable incidence of COVID-19. This is part
of Phase 1 in the Trump Administration’s Guidelines for Opening Up America Again. The
recommendations update earlier guidance provided by CMS on
limiting non-essential surgeries and medical procedures.
Trump Administration Announces New Nursing Homes
COVID-19 Transparency Effort
CMS announced new regulatory requirements that
will require nursing homes to inform residents, their families,
and their representatives of COVID-19 cases in their facilities.
In addition, as part of President Trump’s Opening Up America, CMS
will now require nursing homes to report cases of COVID-19
directly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This information must be reported in accordance with existing
privacy regulations and statute. This measure augments
longstanding requirements for reporting infectious disease to
State and local health departments. CMS will also require nursing
homes to fully cooperate with CDC surveillance efforts around
COVID-19 spread.
Trump Administration Champions Reporting of COVID-19
Clinical Trial Data through Quality Payment Program, Announces
New Clinical Trials Improvement Activity
CMS is encouraging clinicians who participate in the
Quality Payment Program (QPP), such as physicians, physician
assistants, nurse practitioners, and others, to contribute to
scientific research and evidence to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clinicians may now earn credit in the Merit-based Incentive
Payment System (MIPS), a performance-based track of QPP that incentivizes
quality and value, for participation in a clinical trial and
reporting clinical information by attesting to the new COVID-19
Clinical Trials improvement activity. This action will provide
vital data to help drive improvement in patient care and develop
innovative best practices to manage the spread of COVID-19 within
communities.
RHC & FQHCs: Telehealth and Virtual
Communications Flexibilities During COVID-19 Public Health
Emergency
To support Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Federally
Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and their patients, Congress
and CMS made changes to requirements and payments during the
COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, including:
- New payment for
telehealth services, including how to bill Medicare
- Expansion of
virtual communication services
- Revision of home
health agency shortage requirement for visiting nursing
services
- Consent for care
management and virtual communication services
- Accelerated/advance
payments
CMS Amends Certain Activities Related to the Health
Insurance Exchange Quality Rating System, QHP Enrollee Experience
Survey, and Quality Improvement Strategy
CMS is easing burden on Qualified Health Plans
(QHPs) during the Public Health Emergency. CMS directed plans
that are eligible to report for the Quality Rating System and the
Quality Improvement Strategy programs to discontinue collecting
clinical quality measure data. Eligible QHPs can discontinue
reporting in June 2020 for display on Exchange websites for the
2021 Open Enrollment period. CMS will continue to accept QHP
Enrollee survey data submissions for this year, given that the
survey administration is already underway.
CMS Approves Additional State Medicaid Waivers and
Amendments to Give States Flexibility to Address Coronavirus
Pandemic
CMS has approved 53 COVID-related emergency waivers,
39 state amendments, 16 COVID-related Medicaid Disaster
Amendments and one CHIP COVID-related Disaster Amendment in
record time. States are using a toolkit CMS developed to
expedite the application and approval of Medicaid state waivers
and State Plan Amendments.
CMS recently approved an additional COVID-related
emergency Medicaid waiver for Wisconsin, delivering urgent
regulatory relief to ensure the state can quickly and effectively
care for its most vulnerable citizens. CMS also recently approved
COVID-19 related Medicaid Disaster Amendments that bring relief
to Guam, Louisiana, Maryland, and Minnesota. These approvals help
to ensure that states have the tools they need to combat COVID-19
through a wide variety of state plan flexibilities. CMS continues
to authorize amendments to ensure emergency flexibilities in
programs that care for the elderly and people with disabilities,
including most recently for the District of Columbia, Florida,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Utah, and Virginia. These approved
flexibilities support President Trump’s commitment to a COVID-19
response that is locally executed, state managed, and federally
supported.
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