COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, August 11

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11.

Pennsylvania Update

Wolf Administration

Harrisburg, PA capital building In a message to families in anticipation of a new school year, the Wolf administration stressed the importance of children receiving their required childhood vaccinations but reminded Pennsylvanians that the Department of Health has temporarily suspended its requirements for children’s immunizations for two months after the beginning of the school year or the beginning of enrollment in an early childhood education program. See the Wolf administration’s news release on this subject here and Department of Health notice about the temporary policy suspension here.

Department of Health

The Department of Health addressed a provider question about direct care worker exposure to a COVID-19-positive patient in last week’s weekly wrap-up document, stating that anyone who has had prolonged close contact (within six feet for at least 15 minutes) with an individual who tests positive should be considered potentially exposed regardless of the personal protective equipment worn by either the worker or the patient.
A posting on the department’s message board provided guidance for hospitals on how to comply with the requirement for an annual public meeting of the governing body in 28 Pa. Code §103.3(10)(iii) during the public health emergency. That posting explained that

For purposes of a compliance with 28 Pa. Code §103.3(10)(iii), the Department has interpreted the term “attend” to include virtual attendance by the general public and the governing body through the use of audio-video technology. A hospital choosing to conduct its annual public meeting virtually must still publicize the meeting information well in advance of the meeting and establish a mechanism to document attendance at the meeting. A hospital does not need approval from the Department to conduct a virtual meeting under 28 Pa. Code §103.3(10)(iii) but must be able to provide documentation of the advance notice and attendance upon request.

Department of Health – by the numbers

The number of new COVID-19 cases has remained relatively steady for the past week: fewer than late July and more like the beginning of last month. Today’s new cases brought the state-wide count to more than 120,000 since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number of COVID-19-caused deaths has generally been down except for two days in the past week that had the highest death totals since July 1. Yesterday the state’s total death count from COVID-19 surpassed 7300.
A report issued jointly by Governor Wolf and the Department of Health late last week noted that the state-wide positive COVID-19 test rate declined to 4.1 percent from 4.6 percent last week. Counties with concerning positive test rates include Union (11.8 percent), Indiana (7.9 percent), Fayette (7.7 percent), Fulton (7.4 percent), Huntingdon (6.7 percent), Erie (6.2 percent), Mercer (6.2 percent), Lawrence (6.0 percent), Northumberland (6.0 percent), York (5.8 percent), Clearfield (5.7 percent), Luzerne (5.4 percent), Juniata (5.3 percent), Lancaster (5.3 percent), Beaver (5.2 percent), Delaware (5.2 percent), and Mifflin (5.0 percent).
The number of long-term-care facility residents and staff who have contracted COVID-19 recently rose past the 24,000 mark.
As has been the case for more than two months, 68 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among elderly residents of long-term-care facilities.
The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 and breathing with the help of mechanical assistance continues to decline slowly.
22 percent of the beds in Pennsylvania’s acute-care hospitals are currently unoccupied, as are 24 percent of adult ICU beds, 15 percent of pediatric ICU beds, 41 percent of pediatric beds, and 43 percent of airborne isolation rooms.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

Eligible providers may now apply for Provider Relief Fund phase 2 general distributions. These are providers that are being given another opportunity to receive Provider Relief Fund payments after missing the June 3, 2020 deadline to apply for funding equal to two percent of their total patient care revenue from the $20 billion portion of the $50 billion phase 1 general distribution; this group also includes Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), dental providers with low Medicare revenues, and hospitals that received payments in the phase 1 distribution but returned them. In addition, providers that experienced a change in ownership, making them ineligible for phase 1 funding, also may apply.
- Providers can go here to learn more about this phase 2 distribution and eligibility.
- Providers can submit the required financial data on the Provider Relief Fund application and attestation portal. The deadline for submitting data is August 28.
- Providers can go here to register for a webinar on this distribution to be held on Thursday, August 13 at 3:00 (eastern).
HHS has shared information about its next CARES Act-authorized nursing home Provider Relief Fund distribution. This $5 billion distribution will include approximately $2.5 billion to support increased testing, staffing, and personal protective equipment needs and to establish COVID-19 isolation facilities, with the balance to be linked to nursing home performance. HHS expects to make the first $2.5 billion distribution in mid-August and the performance-based distributions throughout the fall. Learn more from this HHS news release.
HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with 16 new questions, 15 of which address eligibility for phase 2 general distributions from the Provider Relief Fund and how to apply for those distributions. These questions can be found on pages 22, 23, 24, 29, and 31 of the FAQ; these and other new questions are all dated 8/10/2020. Another question about eligibility, dated 8/7/2020, can be found on page 2.

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS has posted the July through December COVID-19 testing plans of all states, territories, and localities. Find those testing plans here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS announced a new Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Model (CHART) that will seek to improve the quality, accessibility, and value of care in rural areas. The agency intends to invest up to $75 million in seed money to enable up to 15 rural communities to participate in the program, which will involve tools such as an accountable care organization (AC) transformational track, the extension of COVID-19-inspired telemedicine waivers after the pandemic is over, a reduction of the minimum required supervision level for hospital outpatient therapeutic services, and an increase in wage indexes for low-wage hospitals, including many rural hospitals. Learn more here.
CMS has updated its “COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Billing” document with a new question about the broader impact of its waiving of certain Medicare and Medicaid utilization review requirements. See page 22, question 23 for further details.

CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls

CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to its response to COVID-19. These sessions are open to members of the health care community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.

Lessons from the Front Lines: COVID-19

Friday, August 21 at 12:30 – 2:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 5956858

Audio Webcast Link: go here.

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Call

Tuesday, August 25 at 5:00 – 6:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 8579003

Audio Webcast link: go here.

Home Health and Hospice Call

Tuesday, August 25 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820 Access Passcode: 6782346
Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Nursing Homes Call

Wednesday, August 12 at 4:30 – 5:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 7857618

Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Wednesday, August 26 at 4:30 – 5:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 5718509
Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Dialysis Organizations Call

Wednesday, August 12 at 5:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1027088

Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Wednesday, August 26 at 5:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1834329
Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Nurses Call

Thursday, August 13 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 7844289

Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Thursday, August 27 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1556623
Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Conference lines are limited, so CMS encourages interested parties to join via audio webcast. To listen to the audio files and read the transcripts for these and past COVID-19 Stakeholder calls, visit CMS’s Podcast and Transcripts page.