Quick-Reference Fact Sheet Now Available
The Center for Dignity in Healthcare for People with Disabilities has published a new fact sheet for health care professionals, describing best practices and legal requirements for health care when serving people with disabilities. It is based on guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
The COVID-19 Telehealth Program, a new federal program appropriated by Congress as part of the CARES Act, will provide $200 Million in Support for Health Care Providers and Patients Across the Country During the Coronavirus Outbreak. Application vetting begins this week.
The FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program application portal opens today, Monday, April 13, 2020 at 12:00 pm ET.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the Departments of Labor and the Treasury, recently issued guidance that announces the expanded coverage for essential diagnostic testing and other related services at no cost (no co-pays or out-of-pocket expenses). To assist in the efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, this testing will include antibody testing (when it becomes widely available). This will include urgent care visits, emergency department visits, and in-person or telehealth visits to doctor’s offices that result in an order for or administration of a COVID-19 test.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an initial $30 billion in relief funding to Medicare providers today as part of the CARES Act, bringing the total to be distributed in the coming months to more than $100 billion. Pennsylvania has been allocated more than $1 billion in funding, which is one of the highest distribution amounts in the country.
Providers who are enrolled in Medicare have been allotted a portion of these funds based on their share of 2019 Medicare fee-for-services reimbursements. These are payments, not loans, to health care providers and will not need to be repaid.
HHS is partnering with UnitedHealth Group to deliver the initial $30 billion distribution to providers as quickly as possible. Providers will be paid via Automated Clearing House account information on file with UHG, UnitedHealthcare, or Optum Bank, or used for reimbursements from CMS. Providers who normally receive a paper check for reimbursement from CMS will receive a paper check in the mail for this payment as well, within the next few weeks.
Within 30 days of receiving the payment, providers must sign an attestation confirming receipt of the funds and agreeing to the terms and conditions of payment. The portal for signing the attestation will be open Monday and will be available here.
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CMS provided clarification around the suspension of sequestration in a special edition of MLNConnects: Section 3709 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act temporarily suspends the 2% payment adjustment currently applied to all Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) claims due to sequestration. The suspension is effective for claims with dates of service from May 1 through December 31, 2020.
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