On March 13, 2020, the White House issued a proclamation announcing a national emergency in response to coronavirus, which has now become a pandemic according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Separately, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in response to coronavirus on January 31, 2020. The proclamation invokes Sec. 1135 of the Social Security Act, which allows the administration to waive certain requirements of Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for the duration of the public health emergency. Waiving Medicare restrictions will be particularly impactful as coronavirus mortality is much greater for people over the age of 80.
In his remarks on March 14, 2020, President Trump announced that the administration will waive telehealth restrictions, which will allow more doctors to deliver care via telehealth. This will be accomplished by allowing doctors to virtually deliver care to patients in states other than those where they are currently licensed to practice medicine. However, state governors will need to first use their own emergency powers to allow doctors in other states to remotely deliver care in their own state. The authority to waive these restrictions was originally included in the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, which was signed into law on March 6, 2020. This law also allows health care providers to bill Medicare fee-for-service for delivering care via telehealth during the coronavirus public health emergency.
Alongside announcing the waiver of telehealth restrictions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will allow health care providers to temporarily enroll in the Medicare program using a toll-free hotline, which will allow them to bill Medicare for services that they provide to patients. CMS also announced that it will provide additional flexibility to state Medicaid agencies, including allowing providers to deliver care in alternative settings, waiving prior authorization requirements, and suspending pre-admission and annual screenings for nursing home residents. CMS will also suspend non-emergency enforcement activities to allow providers to focus on addressing the coronavirus outbreak.
With these new flexibilities, public health programs in the United States will have a greater ability to contain the coronavirus outbreak and treat patients who have been exposed to the virus.
Last Updated on May 18, 2020 by Aimed Alliance
