Covid-19

Updated Thursday, April 2, 2020

CMS 1135 waivers allow the U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services Secretary to temporarily waive or modify certain Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Policy (CHIP), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements to ensure that sufficient health care items and services are available to meet needs during a declared public health emergency.  Individual health care providers and associations may trigger additional waivers through feedback and requests to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response or CMS Regional Offices.

Updated Thursday, April 2, 2020

CMS 1135 waivers allow the U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services Secretary to temporarily waive or modify certain Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Policy (CHIP), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements to ensure that sufficient health care items and services are available to meet needs during a declared public health emergency.  Individual health care providers and associations may trigger additional waivers through feedback and requests to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response or CMS Regional Offices.

On March 24, 2020, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) prepared correspondence to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking waivers of certain Medicaid requirements pursuant to Section 1135 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1320b-5) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The correspondence to CMS was shared on March 24, 2020 with the Wisconsin Legislature Joint Committee on Finance seeking their approval to submit the Section 1135 Waiver to CMS. The letter to CMS prepared by DHS states that Wisconsin is implementing all the blanket waivers issued by CMS on March 13, 2020 in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), to the extent applicable.

At Husch Blackwell we understand the financial hardships our healthcare industry clients face in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While you have no doubt heard about the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act signed into law on Friday, March 27, 2020, we want to make sure you are aware of the estimated $377 billion in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) relief that may be available to you as an eligible small business. We encourage you to act immediately so that you may secure funding as quickly as possible.

On March 22, 2020, and as subsequently clarified on March 27, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) temporarily lifted the requirements for hospices to submit Hospice Item Set (“HIS”) data and hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (“CAHPS”) survey data.  Prior to CMS’s action, failure to comply with these data reporting requirements of the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (“HQRP”), absent an exception, resulted in a 2 percent reduction to a hospice’s annual Medicare payment update.

In a March 24th letter to all of the nation’s Governors, Secretary Alex Azar of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) called upon states to take immediate action to loosen regulations that present obstacles to the delivery of effective in person and telehealth services during the COVID-19 emergency. In an effort to “carry out a whole-America response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Secretary Azar asked governors to urgently take steps to “extend the capacity of the health care workforce.”

On March 17, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance related to how Covered Entities can comply with HIPAA and the Privacy Rule and still disclose protected health information (PHI) about individuals infected with or exposed to COVID-19 to law enforcement, paramedics, other first responders, and public health authorities (Essential Providers).

Representatives of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are reaching out to speak with hundreds of hospital officials nationwide to provide feedback to HHS and to Congress about the most difficult challenges that hospitals are currently facing in responding to COVID-19.  The OIG emphasizes that…

Since February 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid  (CMS) issued official Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance for health care providers in all care settings to implement in an effort to control the rate of COVID-19 transmission. However, a special focus is on nursing facilities because these facilities house the country’s population most susceptible to COVID-19. In the CDC’s March 18, 2020 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the agency highlights the COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in King County, Seattle, Washington, in which 81 of the 130 residents (62%) contracted COVID-19, and 49 of those residents were hospitalized. The median age of the infected residents was 81 years old. To date, 80% of deaths related to COVID-19 are of persons 65 years old or greater.  Therefore, it is imperative nursing homes take drastic measures to reduce the risk of severe illness or death associated with COVID-19. Husch Blackwell’s answers to the Frequently Asked Questions below follow the current CDC and CMS guidance which outlines these drastic measures.

physicians

COVID-19 Update: CMS Waiver Information for Private Practice Physicians and Non-Physician Practitioners

By Hal Katz and Tamar E. Hodges

President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a National Emergency on March 13, 2020. This declaration granted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar authority to relax certain Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) requirements set forth in Section 1135 of the Social Security Act. The primary purpose of this waiver is to give providers greater flexibility to meet the needs of Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries during an emergency.  CMS may issue “blanket waivers” after a declaration of a public health emergency when it determines many “similarly situated providers” would require certain waivers. CMS requires providers to put the state licensing agency and CMS Regional Office on notice if it intends to modify their operations in light of such waivers, although the blanket waivers are essentially automatic and, therefore, do not require the provider to submit a request. The waiver is in effect through the duration of the emergency or until CMS terminates the waiver.