Articles and Blogs

On Thursday, October 29, HHS made the most substantial revisions to its Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions document to date, adding or modifying 61 FAQs and deleting 78. Many of the deletions are related to the new or modified FAQs, as well as the updated Reporting Guidelines issued October 22, which we addressed here.... READ MORE

On October 22, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published revised Provider Relief Fund Reporting Guidelines (“Revised Reporting Guidelines”) for providers (“Recipients”) who received more than $10,000 in relief fund payments from the Provider Relief Fund created by the CARES Act (“Relief Fund”) (the press release announcing the Revised Reporting Guidelines is... READ MORE

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,... 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... 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... READ MORE

With children across the country returning to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the upcoming flu season approaching, families can now look to licensed pharmacists to administer childhood vaccines. The United States has experienced a drastic decrease in vaccination rates among children as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an attempt to address... READ MORE

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently released details about qualifying for its nursing home infection control distributions. Previously, on September 3, 2020, HHS announced the details of its $2 billion Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”) performance-based incentive payment distribution to nursing homes (“NH Incentive Payments”). “Nursing homes” refers to skilled nursing facilities... READ MORE

On Saturday, September 19, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published its highly anticipated Final Provider Relief Fund Reporting Guidelines (“Reporting Guidelines”) for providers (“Recipients”) who received more than $10,000 in relief fund payments from the Provider Relief Fund created by the CARES Act (“Relief Fund”). The Reporting Guidelines (available here) include detailed... READ MORE

On September 3, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced the details of its $2 billion Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”) performance-based incentive payment distribution to nursing homes. “Nursing homes” refers to skilled nursing facilities (often known as SNFs) for Medicare and nursing facilities (often known as NFs) for Medicaid. This $2... READ MORE

On September 1, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that assisted living facilities (“ALFs”) may now apply for funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Provider Relief Fund (the “CARES Act Provider Relief Fund”) under the Phase 2 General Distribution. HHS estimates that nearly one million older adults live in... READ MORE