Articles and Blogs

The push for increased telehealth coverage continues during the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). On October 14, 2020, CMS added 11 new telehealth services available for Medicare reimbursement during the PHE. The newly added services include cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services and certain neurostimulator analysis and programming services. Since the beginning of the PHE, CMS…Read More

CMS issued a press release on October 15, 2020, announcing a reduction in payment for COVID-19 high throughput lab testing that is not completed within two calendar days of specimen collection. In an effort to encourage timely test results, CMS announced that starting January 1, 2021, Medicare will pay $100 only to laboratories that complete…Read More

Many health systems have discussed the role they can play in addressing social determinants of health (“SDOH”), yet by February 2020, only a reported 9.1% of health systems had announced a plan to invest in SDOH. A plan is essential to create meaningful change and to define measurable goals in SDOH. As health systems look…Read More

On October 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a memorandum updating the COVID-19 reporting requirements for hospitals and critical access hospitals (together “Hospitals”) and setting forth the enforcement process CMS will follow to address Hospitals’ non-compliance with the reporting requirements (“Memorandum”). The Memorandum can be found here. Details on the…Read More

While the ravages of COVID-19 turned the nation’s attention away from the opioid addiction crisis, the number of opioid overdose deaths has surged during the pandemic. Recognizing that the social and emotional consequences of the pandemic will likely increase the workplace impact of opioid use and co-morbid health conditions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”)…Read More

On October 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced the Interim Final Rule entitled “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program,” and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced the Interim Final Rule “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States,” which together bring…Read More

Before the pandemic, it had long been understood that, in most cases, employers may validly view reporting to work as an essential job function. That is now a much more questionable proposition. Now that many industries have abruptly shifted towards a work‑from‑home norm, it is arguable that reporting to work can no longer be considered…Read More

Last week, HHS announced a Phase 3 round of general distributions from The Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (“Relief Fund”). That announcement was further discussed in our client alert and describes an additional $20 billion to be distributed, with applications opening this past Monday, October 5. On Monday, October 5, HHS updated its…Read More