NEWS ALERT
May 1,
2020
Here is
a summary of recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) actions taken in response to coronavirus disease 2019
(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 May 1, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.
ET
Trump Administration Issues Second
Round of Sweeping Changes to Support U.S. Healthcare System During
COVID-19 Pandemic
Building
on its recent historic efforts to help the U.S. healthcare system
manage the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS 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. The temporary changes will apply immediately
for the duration of the Public Health Emergency declaration.
CMS Announces Independent Commission
to Address Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes
CMS
announced a new independent Commission that will conduct a
comprehensive assessment of the nursing home response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission will help inform efforts to
safeguard the health and quality of life of vulnerable Americans as
CMS continues to battle COVID-19 as well as prepare for future
threats to resident safety and public health. This unprecedented
effort builds on the agency’s five-part plan unveiled last
April to ensure safety and quality in America’s nursing homes, as
well as recent CMS efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 within
these facilities.
New Frequently Asked Questions on
EMTALA
CMS
issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) clarifying requirements
and considerations for hospitals and other providers related to the
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) during the
COVID-19 pandemic. The FAQs address questions around patient
presentation to the emergency department, EMTALA applicability
across facility types, qualified medical professionals, medical
screening exams, patient transfer and stabilization, telehealth,
and other topics.
Guidance Available on Telehealth and
HHS-Operated Risk Adjustment for Individual and Small Group Health
Insurance Health Plans
In
response to the increased need for providing telehealth due to
COVID-19, CMS has given additional consideration to telehealth
services in HHS-operated risk adjustment for issuers in the
individual and small group health insurance markets inside and outside
the Marketplaces. CMS’ new guidance clarifies which telehealth
services are valid for HHS-operated risk adjustment data submission
in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dear Clinician: CMS Adds New COVID-19
Clinical Trials Improvement Activity to the Quality Payment Program
CMS
issued a letter thanking clinicians for their ongoing efforts to
treat patients and combat COVID-19 and shared additional details on
the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) improvement
activity. As announced earlier this month,
clinicians who participate in a COVID-19 clinical trial and report
their findings to a clinical data repository or registry many now
earn credit in MIPS under the Improvement Activities performance
category for the 2020 performance period by attesting to this new
activity.
CMS Gives States Additional
Flexibility to Address Coronavirus Pandemic
CMS has
approved 140 requests for state relief in response to the COVID-19
pandemic, including recent approvals for Arkansas, Hawaii,
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming. These approvals
help to ensure that states have the tools they need to combat
COVID-19 through a wide variety of waivers, amendments, and
Medicaid state plan flexibilities, including for programs that care
for the elderly and people with disabilities. CMS developed a toolkit to expedite the
application and review of each request and has approved these
requests in record time. 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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