The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) temporarily suspended a number of rules to boost frontline medical staff at healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new waivers expand on the workforce flexibilities announced by CMS on March 30, 2020 (previously covered by the HL Pulse here). The new waivers include: Physicians in Critical … Continue reading
On March 23rd, 2020, CMS announced a newly “enhanced, focused inspection process” to be implemented nationally in light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and released guidance to state survey agency directors. Standard and Revisit Inspections for nursing homes, hospitals, home health agencies, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and hospices will not be … Continue reading
On July 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published two federal fiscal year (FY) 2020 final rules – inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system (PPS) and hospice payments.… Continue reading
On Monday, July 17, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced 14 new inquiries into potentially fraudulent billing of Medicare and Medicaid. The OIG announcement is part of a new policy to update its investigative Work Plan every month rather than once or twice per year. The … Continue reading