NEWS ALERT
April 16, 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 16, 2020 at 10:15 a.m. ET.
CMS
Increases Medicare Payment for High-Production Coronavirus Lab Tests
CMS announced that Medicare will
nearly double payment for certain lab tests that use high-throughput
technologies to rapidly diagnose large numbers of COVID-19 cases. This is
another action the Trump Administration is taking to rapidly expand
COVID-19 testing. Along with the March 30 announcement that Medicare will
pay new specimen collection fees for COVID-19 testing, CMS’s actions will
expand capability to test more vulnerable populations, like nursing home
patients, quickly and provide results faster. Medicare will pay
laboratories for the tests at $100 effective April 14, 2020, through the duration
of the COVID-19 national emergency.
CMS
Implements CARES Act Hospital Payment and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility
Waivers
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act increases payment for Inpatient Prospective
Payment System (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) inpatient hospital
care attributable to COVID-19. CMS provided guidance for IPPS hospitals and
LTCHs on how to code claims to receive the higher payment.
The CARES Act also waives the
requirement that Medicare Part A fee-for-service patients treated in
inpatient rehabilitation facilities receive at least 15 hours of therapy
per week.
CMS
Approves Additional State Medicaid Waivers and Amendments to Give States
Flexibility to Address Coronavirus Pandemic
CMS has approved 52 COVID- related emergency waivers, 31 state
amendments, 11 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 two additional COVID-related emergency
Medicaid waivers, delivering urgent regulatory relief to ensure the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands can quickly and effectively care for their most vulnerable
citizens. CMS also approved COVID-related Medicaid Disaster Amendments that
bring relief to Arkansas and Rhode Island. 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 Colorado, Louisiana and Nevada. 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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Contact: CMS
Media Relations
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