CMS NEWS ALERT APRIL
9, 2020
Here is a summary of
recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) actions taken in
response to the COVID-19 virus, 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 9, 2020 at 2:30 p.m.
CMS Approves Over $51 Billion for Providers with the
Accelerated/Advance Payment Program for Medicare Providers in One Week
CMS delivered more than
$51 billion to the healthcare providers on the frontlines battling the 2019
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to ensure they have the resources they need to
combat this pandemic. This is an increase from the $34 billion that CMS
announced in an earlier press release. Processing times for a request of an
accelerated or advance payment is now four to six days, down from the
previous timeframe of three to four weeks. In a little over a week, CMS has
already approved over 21,000 of the 32,000 requests it received from health
care providers and suppliers seeking accelerated and advance payments.
Prior to COVID-19, CMS had approved just over 100 total requests in the
past five years, with most being tied to natural disasters such as
hurricanes.
Note: Payments are now up to $51 billion. CMS approved
over 21,000 of 32,000 requests received.
CMS Issues New Wave of Infection Control Guidance to Protect
Patients and Healthcare Workers from COVID-19
CMS issued a series of
updated guidance documents focused on infection control to prevent the
spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in a variety of inpatient
and outpatient care settings. The guidance, based on Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, will help ensure infection control
in the context of patient triage, screening and treatment, the use of
alternate testing and treatment sites and telehealth, drive-through
screenings, limiting visitations, cleaning and disinfection guidelines,
staffing, and more.
Coronavirus-Related Medicare Scam Alert Blog
The Social Security
Administration featured a guest blog from CMS Administrator Seema Verma
reminding Medicare beneficiaries to be vigilant and take precautions to
avoid falling victim to healthcare fraud during the coronavirus pandemic.
Artificial Intelligence Health Outcomes Challenge Pause
CMS will temporarily
pause the Artificial Intelligence Health Outcomes Challenge and restart the
Challenge on Monday, June 29, 2020. In the coming weeks, CMS will
distribute a more detailed timeline for the remaining stages of the
Challenge.
Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) Model
Implementation Date Delay
As CMS seeks to support
the community of organizations that are responding to the COVID-19 public
health emergency, CMS will delay the start of the ET3 Model from May 1,
2020 until Fall 2020. Selected applicants have been notified and will be
required to complete a revised Participation Agreement reflecting the new
implementation date.
CMS Approves Additional State Medicaid Waivers and
Amendments to Give States Flexibility to Address Coronavirus Pandemic
CMS continues to deliver
urgent regulatory relief to ensure states can quickly and effectively
care for their most vulnerable citizens during the COVID-19 crisis.
For the first time, CMS has approved a COVID-related Children’s Health
Insurance Program (CHIP) Disaster Amendment that brings relief for
CHIP-covered children living in Maine. In addition, CMS approved
COVID-related Medicaid Disaster Amendments that bring relief to North
Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. 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 also authorized amendments to ensure
emergency flexibilities in programs that care for the elderly and people
with disabilities, including most recently in Delaware, Hawaii,
Mississippi, New York, and North Dakota. These approved flexibilities
support President Trump’s commitment to a COVID-19 response that is locally
executed, state managed, and federally supported.
All told, CMS has
approved 49 emergency waivers, 26 state amendments, 7 COVID-19 related
Medicaid Disaster Amendments and the first 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.
###
|
No comments:
Post a Comment