New Video Available on Medicare Coverage and Payment of Virtual Services

CMS released a video providing answers to common questions about the Medicare telehealth services benefit. CMS is expanding this benefit on a temporary and emergency basis under the 1135 waiver authority and Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act.

Video

CMS Approves Additional State Medicaid Waivers and Amendments to Give States Flexibility to Address Coronavirus Pandemic

CMS approved its 45th Medicaid waiver to the District of Columbia, delivering urgent regulatory relief to ensure the District can quickly and effectively care for their most vulnerable citizens. In light of the urgent and evolving needs of states during the COVID-19 crisis, CMS developed a toolkit to facilitate expedited application and approval of State waivers requests in record time. The waivers support President Trump’s commitment to a COVID-19 response that is locally executed, state managed, and federally supported.

CMS also approved an additional state waiver amendment request for Oklahoma to give emergency flexibilities in their programs that care for the elderly and people with disabilities, bringing the total to 18 approvals across 16 states.

Section 1135 Waivers  

1915(c) Appendix K Waivers

 Guidance for Processing Attestations from Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) Temporarily Enrolling as Hospitals during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

CMS is providing needed flexibility to hospitals to ensure they have the ability to expand capacity and to treat patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency. As part of the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers CMS is allowing Medicare-enrolled ASCs to temporarily enroll as hospitals and to provide hospital services to help address the urgent need to increase hospital capacity to take care of patients.

Guidance

April 5, 2020

Under her authority as Secretary of the Department of Health to take any disease control measure appropriate to protect the public from the spread of infectious disease, Dr. Rachel Levine today signed an order providing direction for maintaining and cleaning buildings for businesses authorized to maintain in-person operations under her and the governor’s life-sustaining business orders announced March 19.

According to the Building Safety Measures order, “Cleaning, disinfecting, and other maintenance and security services performed by building service employees are critical to protecting the public health by reducing COVID-19 infections in the commonwealth.”

The measures outlined in the order are for owners of buildings of at least 50,000 square feet used for commercial, industrial or other enterprises, including but not limited to facilities for warehousing, manufacturing, commercial offices, airports, grocery stores, universities, colleges, government, hotels, and residential buildings with at least 50 units.

In addition to maintaining pre-existing cleaning protocols, the order outlines these new protocols:

• Clean and disinfect high-touch areas routinely in accordance with CDC guidelines, in spaces that are accessible to customers, tenants, or other individuals.
• Maintain pre-existing cleaning protocols established in the facility for all other areas of the building.
• Ensure that the facility has a sufficient number of employees to perform the above protocols effectively and in a manner that ensures the safety of occupants and employees.
• Ensure that the facility has a sufficient number of security employees to control access, maintain order, and enforce social distancing of at least 6 feet, provided the security employees are otherwise responsible for such enforcement.

The order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m., April 6.

View the full order as a PDF here or on Scribd.

Over the past several weeks, the Pennsylvania departments of Community & Economic Development, Health, General Services, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency have heard from countless manufacturers and other businesses from across the commonwealth about how they can help through their existing means and through new innovative techniques.

Many of you have also reached out to share your challenges, supply chain disruptions and workforce issues, which are impeding your ability to produce more of what is most needed to battle COVID-19.

Earlier today, we announced the creation of the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Call to Action Portal, which will help streamline those requests and facilitate the connections you need to overcome your challenges and provide critical supplies to Pennsylvania.

It is our goal to connect you directly with a dedicated team of case managers who will thoroughly evaluate your company’s needs, seamlessly connecting you with the appropriate resource or partner organization(s) who will provide additional support.

The COVID-10 Cases in Appalachia map displays the current number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Appalachia and throughout the United States. Higher numbers of cases are marked by larger dots, while smaller numbers of confirmed cases are represented by smaller dots. By clicking on a location, users can see confirmed COVID-19 cases and any related deaths at the county level. This map is automatically updated throughout the day drawing on data collected by the Johns Hopkins University. Due to frequent changes, it is advised that users refresh their browsers often when viewing the map. As of April 2, 11:15 am (ET), there were 5,433 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 314 Appalachian counties, up from 1,686 confirmed cases in 208 Appalachian counties on March 26.

Explore County-level Coronavirus Impact Planning is a searchable data base offering demographic data snapshots of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in relation to hospital bed counts, population and businesses, and categories of people at risk for COVID-19 in each one of the nation’s counties. By hovering over each statistical icon, users can learn more about the supporting data. COVID-19 related data is updated daily

In response to the national emergency that was declared concerning the COVID-19 outbreak, a new diagnosis code, U07.1, COVID-19, has been implemented, effective April 1, 2020.

As a result, an updated ICD-10 MS-DRG GROUPER software package to accommodate the new ICD-10-CM diagnosis code, U07.1, COVID-19, effective with discharges on and after April 1, 2020, is available on the CMS MS-DRG Classifications and Software webpage.

This updated GROUPER software package (V37.1 R1) replaces the GROUPER software package V37.1 that was developed in response to the new ICD-10-CM diagnosis code U07.0, Vaping-related disorder, also effective with discharges on and after April 1, 2020, that is currently available on the MS-DRG Classifications and Software webpage.

Providers should use this new code, U07.1, where appropriate, for discharges on or after April 1, 2020.  Refer to the updated MLN Matters Articles for additional Medicare Fee-For-Service information:

• Update to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) for Vaping Related Disorder and 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Update to the Home Health Grouper for New Diagnosis Codes for Vaping Related Disorder and COVID-19
• April 2020 Integrated Outpatient Code Editor (I/OCE) Specifications Version 21.1 R1

For detailed information regarding the assignment of new diagnosis code U07.1, COVID-19, under the ICD-10 MS-DRGs, visit the MS-DRG Classifications and Software webpage. The announcement is located under the “Latest News” heading.

For additional information related to the new COVID-19 diagnosis code, visit the CDC website.

CMS recognizes that in these important times, in particular, beneficiaries, health care clinicians, suppliers, and manufacturers are looking for the broadest possible access to ventilators for their care needs.  We are taking a number of steps to increase access to and remind suppliers about certain options available to them and beneficiaries regarding multi-function ventilators.

Effective immediately, CMS is suspending claims editing for multi-function ventilators when there are claims for separate devices in history that have not met their reasonable useful lifetime.

For more information on multi-function ventilators, see MLN Matters Special Edition Article SE20012.

This corrects a prior message that appeared in our March 31, 2020 Special Edition.

Building on prior action to expand reimbursement for telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries, CMS will now allow for more than 80 additional services to be furnished via telehealth. When billing professional claims for all telehealth services with dates of services on or after March 1, 2020, and for the duration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), bill with:

• Place of Service (POS) equal to what it would have been had the service been furnished in-person
• Modifier 95, indicating that the service rendered was actually performed via telehealth

As a reminder, CMS is not requiring the CR modifier on telehealth services. However, consistent with current rules for telehealth services, there are two scenarios where modifiers are required on Medicare telehealth professional claims:

• Furnished as part of a federal telemedicine demonstration project in Alaska and Hawaii using asynchronous (store and forward) technology, use GQ modifier
• Furnished for diagnosis and treatment of an acute stroke, use G0 modifier

There are no billing changes for institutional claims; critical access hospital method II claims should continue to bill with modifier GT.

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 3, 2020 at 10:00 AM.

Trump Administration Issues Key Recommendations to Nursing Homes, State and Local Governments

Recently, CMS, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued critical recommendations to state and local governments, as well as nursing homes, to help mitigate the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in nursing homes. The recommendations build on and strengthen recent guidance from CMS and CDC related to effective implementation of longstanding infection control procedures.

Press Release

Guidance

CMS Approves Additional State Medicaid Waivers and Amendments to Give States Flexibility to Address Coronavirus Pandemic

CMS approved its 44th state Medicaid waiver delivering urgent regulatory relief to ensure States can quickly and effectively care for their most vulnerable citizens. In light of the urgent and evolving needs of states during the COVID-19 crisis, CMS developed a toolkit to facilitate expedited application and approval of State waivers requests in record time. The waivers support President Trump’s commitment to a COVID-19 response that is locally executed, state managed, and federally supported. Recently approved states include Alaska, Arkansas, and Nebraska.

CMS also approved one more state waiver amendment requests for California to give emergency flexibilities in their programs that care for the elderly and people with disabilities, bringing the total to 17 approvals across 15 states.

Section 1135 Waivers

1915(c) Appendix K Waivers

Medicare and Telehealth Services Blog

The Social Security Administration (SSA) featured a guest blog by CMS Administrator, Seema Verma with important information on Medicare coverage and recently expanded coverage of telehealth services. CMS actions protect beneficiaries while maintaining trusted access to care in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Social Security Matters Blog

Medicaid Telehealth Flexibilities for Rural Health Care Substance Use Disorder

CMS released an Informational Bulletin to states that explains how states can use telehealth delivery methods to expand access to Medicaid services, including substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and services. The guidance outlines how telehealth may be used to service rural communities, high-risk individuals, school-based health centers and SUD programs. It provides information about Medicaid coverage and reimbursement of SUD treatment services and supports CMS actions in response to the COVID-19 virus as well as the opioid epidemic.

Informational Bulletin

Updates Available to Medicaid and CHIP Frequently Asked Questions

CMS issued additional Frequently Asked Questions for State Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies to aid states in their response to the COVID-19 outbreak.  Topics include: emergency preparedness and response; flexibilities around eligibility and enrollment; benefits, premiums and cost sharing; financing; managed care; fair hearings; health information exchanges; and COVID-19 T-MSIS coding guidance.

 Frequently Asked Questions

April 1–Today, nonprofits DirectEmployers Association and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), announce the launch of NeedAJobNow.USNLx.com, a job site dedicated to providing a centralized location for displaced workers to access employment opportunities from U.S. corporations with immediate hiring needs due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Powered by the National Labor Exchange (NLx), the site houses jobs from vetted employers in all industries and provides an opportunity for Americans to return to work and gain meaningful employment.

“The National Labor Exchange’s mission is to provide a cost-effective national employment system that improves labor market efficiency. We are working together to align and leverage the assets and power of major U.S. corporations and all workforce partners to minimize the economic impact on displaced workers due to COVID-19,” says Candee Chambers, DirectEmployers Association’s Executive Director.

NeedAJobNow.USNLx.com contains over 400,000 job openings and continues to grow daily. While many employers are downsizing their staff, others are significantly increasing their hiring efforts due to current demands. Through this initiative, DirectEmployers and NASWA will assist in bridging the gap between job supply and demand by offering an easy way for job seekers to gain access to current open positions and for employers to fill positions quickly and efficiently during these difficult times.

“This new tool will help states quickly connect workers to employers with urgent job openings,” said Scott B. Sanders, NASWA Executive Director. “The Need A Job Now site will provide new opportunities for our workforce during these unprecedented times and we are proud to be a partner in this NLx initiative.”

As part of the NLx, this resource is offered at no cost to job seekers or employers. All jobs found on NeedAJobNow.USNLx.com will be refreshed daily with current job content from employers across the country. Employers wishing to have their jobs included within the site can visit https://needajobnow.usnlx.com/post for more information.

On April 3, at the direction of President Trump, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued critical recommendations to state and local governments, as well as nursing homes, to help mitigate the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in nursing homes. The recommendations build on and strengthen recent guidance from CMS and CDC related to effective implementation of longstanding infection control procedures.

Press Release

Guidance