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SNAP Asks Congress to Help Hospitals Keep Provider Relief Fund Grants

Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals could lose some or all of their CARES Act Provider Relief Fund grant money and the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania is asking members of the state’s congressional delegation to intervene on their behalf to prevent it.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logoAt issue are financial reporting requirements that at first directed hospitals to estimate their anticipated revenue losses and extra expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in one way and then shifted to a new approach.  The first grant distribution was based on the original reporting requirements, and now, hospitals fear that the change in reporting requirements could leave them vulnerable to a demand that they return some, much, or all of that grant money.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced one set of reporting requirement in June and then proposed modifying them in September.  In response to widespread expressions of concern, including from SNAP, HHS revised those proposed changes – but not enough, according to many stakeholders, leaving them concerned that HHS would ask them to return some of their grant money.  Now, SNAP is asking the same members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation who asked HHS to reconsider the reporting requirements to do so again.

See SNAP’s letter to the delegation asking its members to sign onto a bipartisan letter asking HHS to revise its reporting requirements once again.  Go here to see the letter members of Congress are being asked to sign.

 

2020-12-14T10:20:08+00:00December 14th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on SNAP Asks Congress to Help Hospitals Keep Provider Relief Fund Grants

COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, December 8

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 8.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

At a press briefing on Monday, Governor Wolf expressed concern about the alarming rate at which new COVID-19 cases are being diagnosed in Pennsylvania, asked Pennsylvanians to wear masks, engage in recommended social distancing, and avoid mass gatherings, and warned that while he was not calling for any new mitigation requirements at this time, he and other state officials are reviewing their options and may recommend new measures later this week.

Department of Health

The Department of Health announced that beginning on Thursday, December 10, regional drive-through and indoor walk-in COVID-19 testing clinics will be held in Clinton, Delaware, Greene, Warren, and Wyoming counties.  Counties with new, temporary state-sponsored testing sites will change each week over the next 11 weeks so that 61 counties will eventually be reached by these pop-up testing sites.  Go here to learn more, including the testing schedule and site addresses.

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • Pennsylvania’s number of COVID-19 cases today surpassed 345,000.
  • In three of the past six days Pennsylvania has set a new single-day high for the number of new cases.
  • More than 11,500 Pennsylvanians have now died from COVID-19.
  • More than 40,000 residents of long-term-care facilities and more than 7000 people who work in those facilities have contracted COVID-19.  Those figures encompass 1349 facilities in 66 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
  • More than 18,000 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 has doubled in the past two weeks.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator has risen 50 percent in the past two weeks.
  • More than 1000 Pennsylvanians are currently in hospital intensive care units being treated for COVID-19; that is a 40 percent increase in the past two weeks.
  • 14 percent of hospital adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 14 percent of medical/surgical beds, 37 percent of pediatric beds, 16 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 34 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.
  • The state-wide positivity rate on COVID-19 tests rose from 11.7 percent two weeks ago to 14.4 percent last week, according to the early warning dashboard released weekly by the governor and Department of Health.
  • A positivity rate greater than five percent is considered “concerning,” Department of Health Secretary Levine has explained in the past.

Around the State

  • The web site northcentralpa.com reported late last week that “The 15-day average test positivity rate in Lycoming County is 43%, Pa. Department of Health data show.  By comparison, the statewide 7-day average is 11%.  A percent positivity rate of 5% is considered ‘too high’ by some experts.”
  • Westmoreland County has experienced an especially high rate of new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.  The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that in response to increases in the number of hospitalized patients, Excela Health will convert a procedure room into a new space for about 12 new, temporary beds in one of its Westmoreland County hospitals.  The newspaper notes that “On Monday, there were 133 patients hospitalized in the county with covid-19 – a 24% increase in a week and more than 138% since Nov. 1, according to state data.  On Sunday, there were 137 patients — the highest since the pandemic started in March.”
  • One of that county’s commissioners has tested positive for COVID-19, the Tribune-Review reports.
  • And after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, Philadelphia’s mayor has just entered into a quarantine period – for the second time, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • The Inquirer also reports that according to Philadelphia’s health commissioner, the city’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases was “likely caused by social gatherings that happened over Thanksgiving on top of already high case counts.”  The Inquirer added that “The city on Tuesday reported 1,408 newly confirmed cases, for a total of 75,458 since the pandemic began.  During the week that ended Saturday, the city reported about 910 new cases per day, with a positive rate of 12.7%.”

Department of State

  • To provide a greater number of people with convenient, limited-contact access to flu shots, the Department of State has suspended the age restriction that limits intern-administered flu shots to those ages nine and older.  Instead, pharmacy interns may temporarily administer any age-appropriate influenza vaccination to children three years of age and older.  Also, to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines as they become available, this waiver authorizes pharmacy interns to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to persons who are at least 18 years of age but only under the direct, immediate, and personal supervision of a licensed pharmacist who holds an active authorization to administer injectable medications.  See the notice of this new, temporary policy.
  • The Department of State has extended previous waivers related to CPR training for massage therapists and CPR and basic life support training for dentists, dental hygienists, and expanded function dental assistants.  See the notice of this new, temporary policy.
  • The Department of State has extended a waiver of the periodontal portion of the dental clinical exam because that exam involves a live patient.  It also has extended the current waiver of the live patient aspect of the restorative exam and for its temporary replacement by a non-patient-based restorative dentistry examination administered by the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments and the Council of Interstate Testing Agencies Inc.  See the notice describing these waivers.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

  • HHS announced that the Provider Relief Fund will distribute $523 million in second-round performance payments to 9248 nursing homes as rewards for successfully reducing COVID-19-related infections and deaths between September and October.  HHS concluded that between September and October, 69 percent of 13,251 eligible nursing homes met the incentive program’s infection control criteria.  See HHS’s announcement of the nursing home distribution and a list of how much of this money HHS distributed to nursing homes in individual states.
  • HHS has updated its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ with nine new or modified questions and answers.  Find the new items, all labeled “12/4/2020,” on pages 2, 6, 14, 15, 16-17, 25, 34, 47, and 55.  Fund recipients should review this new information carefully, and in particular, the question on page 6 about erroneous payments, which reverses previous policy, and questions on audit terms and extensions on pages 14 and 15.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls 

CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information about the agency’s 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 participants an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.

COVID-19 Office Hours Call

Tuesday, December 22 at 5:00 (eastern)

Toll Free Dial In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode:  3968359

Audio Webcast link:  go here.

Hospitals Without Walls Call

On November 25, CMS announced the expansion of its Hospitals Without Walls program by introducing its Acute Hospital Care At Home program, giving eligible hospitals unprecedented regulatory flexibilities to treat eligible patients in their homes.  This program was developed to support models of at-home hospital care that have succeeded in several hospitals and networks.  A CMS Hospitals Without Walls stakeholder call will feature two organizations walking through their programs and a question and answer session.  Slides/resources will be posted on CMS.gov prior to the call.

Wednesday, December 9 at 4:00-5:00 PM (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode:  1235939

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 past stakeholder calls, go here.

Department of Health and Human Services

  • HHS has released new hospital COVID-19 capacity data at the facility level.  Previously released data about hospital capacity that had been released was aggregated at the state level but this new, more granular data release aggregates daily hospital reports into a “week at a time” picture while providing a view of how COVID-19 is affecting hospitals and communities.  See HHS’s announcement about the new data and an FAQ about the data and go here for access to the data itself.

Food and Drug Administration

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

 

 

2020-12-09T12:01:35+00:00December 9th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, December 8

SNAP Seeks Help From End-of-Year Federal Legislation

Eliminate Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts (Medicaid DSH), appropriate additional resources for the Provider Relief Fund, and extend the current suspension of the two percent sequestration of Medicare spending, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania asked members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation in a letter SNAP sent earlier this week.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logoThe request comes as Congress returns to Washington to take up the funding of the federal government at a time when authorization for spending under a continuing resolution ends on December 11.  In addition to addressing federal funding, Congress also may consider COVID-19 legislation.

Learn more from SNAP’s letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation.

2020-11-19T06:00:26+00:00November 19th, 2020|COVID-19, DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off on SNAP Seeks Help From End-of-Year Federal Legislation

COVID-19 Update: Thursday, November 5

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 5.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

The Department of Health updated its hospital guidance to clarify that hospitals must test COVID-19 patients prior to discharge to another facility and communicate those test results to the receiving facility prior to discharge.

In response to an increase of new COVID-19 cases in Huntingdon County, the Department of Health contracted for drive-through and indoor testing clinics in the county from October 29 through Monday, November 2.

During a news conference this week, Secretary Levine noted that Pennsylvania is now seeing more COVID-19 “long-haulers”:  people who continue to experience COVID-19 symptoms over a period of months.

Even though current case counts in Pennsylvania are higher than they were during the earlier days of the pandemic, fewer people are hospitalized with the disease, fewer are being treated on ventilators, and fewer are dying.  Secretary Levine attributes these improvements to better medical care, more experience treating COVID-19 patients, and better therapeutics.  In addition, long-term-care facilities are doing a better job of preventing and limiting outbreaks.  She attributed this improvement in part to the help those facilities are receiving through the state’s Regional Response Health Collaborative program.

She also noted that cases are less concentrated among elderly Pennsylvanians than in the pandemic’s early days and that younger people are better equipped to fight the disease.

The state recently released data that illustrates this change:

  • In north central Pennsylvania, approximately seven percent of cases in April were among people ages 19 to 24 while that same age group accounted for approximately 28 percent of cases in October.
  • In northeastern Pennsylvania, that figure rose from six percent of cases in April to approximately 16 percent of cases in October.
  • In southeastern Pennsylvania it rose from nearly five percent of cases in April to nearly 14 percent of cases in October.
  • In southeastern Pennsylvania it rose from approximately five percent of cases in April to nearly 12 percent of cases in October.
  • In northwestern Pennsylvania it rose from nearly seven percent of cases in April to approximately 14 percent of cases in October.
  • In south central Pennsylvania it rose from approximately seven percent of cases in April to approximately 12 percent of cases in October.

The state is still struggling with people unwilling to cooperate with contact tracers when they are informed that they have COVID-19, Secretary Levine continued.  Only 24 percent are currently doing so.

Among those who are cooperating, in the past week more than half of those people said they had been in a restaurant or “large business” or mass gathering setting in the past two weeks.

Department of Health COVID-19 Vaccine Planning

Last week we introduced you to an executive summary of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 vaccination plan.  Today, Secretary Levine held a news briefing to provide additional information about Pennsylvania’s plan.  According to a report in the York Daily Record, Secretary Levine said that the state intends to distribute the vaccines in phases and that “In the first phase, when vaccine doses are likely to be limited, high-risk workers in health care settings, first responders, other essential workers, people with pre-existing health conditions and adults in long-term care are likely to be prioritized.”  Learn more from the York Daily Record article.

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • Pennsylvania’s number of COVID-19 cases recently surpassed 220,000.  The past week has seen the highest number of new cases on a daily basis since the pandemic began and Thursday’s new case count was the state’s new single-day high.
  • The number of new cases in Pennsylvania during the week ending October 29 was 43 percent higher than the previous week.
  • With today’s latest figures, the death count now exceeds 8900.
  • Of that number, 61 percent have been residents of long-term-care facilities.
  • Overall, nearly 27,000 residents of long-term-care facilities and more than 5800 people who work in those facilities have contracted COVID-19.  Those figures encompass 1100 facilities in 63 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
  • More than 12,700 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is higher than it has been at any time since May.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator is higher than it has been since mid-June.
  • 20 percent of hospital adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 18 percent of medical/surgical beds, 33 percent of pediatric beds, 12 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 37 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.
  • The state-wide positivity rate on COVID-19 tests rose from five percent two weeks ago to six percent last week.
  • A positivity rate greater than five percent is considered “concerning,” Secretary Levine explained during her news briefing, adding that currently, 40 counties have rates higher than five percent.  Only 30 counties were at that level the previous week, she added.
  • According to the early warning dashboard released weekly by the governor and Department of Health, the following counties are currently experiencing “substantial level of transmission” of COVID-19:  Armstrong, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Centre, Crawford, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mifflin, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Tioga, Venango, Westmoreland, Wyoming, and York.

Department of Human Services

DHS is no longer requiring non-nursing home providers to submit interim reporting on their CARES ACT/Act 24 spending.  Interim reports would have been due on November 6 and are still required of nursing homes.

DHS’s Office of Long-Term Living and Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) have updated their guidance on COVID-19 for personal care homes, assisted living residences, and private intermediate-care facilities.

ODP has issued guidance to individuals, families and designated persons, licensed and enrolled providers of ODP residential services, and all interested parties on developing visitation policies in ODP residential settings to protect residents, staff, and visitors from COVID-19.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

  • A reminder that applications for Phase 3 general distribution payments are due Friday, November 6.
  • HHS has updated the Provider Relief Fund FAQ with two modified items; the second bullet below addresses the deadline for Phase 3 applications.
    • p. 6 – Does HHS intend to recoup any payments made to providers not tied to specific claims for reimbursement, such as the General or Targeted Distribution payments? ( Modified 11/5/2020)

The Provider Relief Fund and the Terms and Conditions require that recipients be able to demonstrate that lost revenues and increased expenses attributable to COVID-19, excluding expenses and losses that have been reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are obligated to reimburse, exceed total payments from the Relief Fund. Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that have not been fully expended on the combination of healthcare expenses and lost revenues attributable to coronavirus by the end of the final reporting period, must be returned to HHS. HHS reserves the right to audit Relief Fund recipients in the future to ensure that this requirement is met and collect any Relief Fund amounts that were made in error or exceed lost revenue or increased expenses due to COVID-19. Failure to comply with the Terms and Conditions may be grounds for recoupment.

  • p. 41 – Tax Identification Number (TIN) Validation Process

When is the deadline to submit an application? (Modified 11/5/2020)

The deadline to submit an application under Phase 3 – General Distribution is November 6, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST for those that have had their TIN validated in Phase 2 or received funds as part of Phase 1. Any entity that has not yet received any General Distribution payments must submit their TIN for validation by November 6, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST. If the TIN is validated by November 13, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST, the entity will have until November 27, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST to submit an application.

Department of Health and Human Services

  • HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has posted FAQs about the information-blocking provisions of the regulation it published last week extending until April of 2021 the agency’s deadline for complying with its information-blocking requirements.  Find those FAQs here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • CMS’s online publication MLN Connects directs providers and others to its COVID-19 vaccine toolkit for information about preparing to administer such vaccines when they become available.
  • CMS has updated its provider-specific fact sheets on new COVID-19-related waivers and flexibilities for the following providers:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

Congressional Research Service

 

2020-11-10T21:03:49+00:00November 6th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Thursday, November 5

COVID-19 Update: Friday, October 30

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 2:45 p.m. on Friday, October 30.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

The Department of Health updated its hospital guidance to clarify that hospitals must test COVID-19 patients prior to discharge to another facility and communicate those test results to the receiving facility prior to discharge.

In response to an increase of new COVID-19 cases in Huntingdon County, the Department of Health has contracted for a drive-through and indoor testing clinic in the county.  Testing will be available at the Huntingdon Plaza, Suite 7505, R. 22 and S. 4th Street in Huntingdon beginning on October 29 and running until Monday, November 2.  The tests are free and no appointment is needed.

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 case count recently surpassed 200,000.  The daily total has been in four figures every day this month except for one, which has not happened since the early months of the pandemic.
  • Four times in the last nine days the state has totaled more than 2000 new cases – the first times the daily total has exceeded 2000 in any one day since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • With today’s latest figures, the death count now exceeds 8700.
  • Of that number, 61 percent have been residents of long-term-care facilities.
  • Overall, nearly 26,000 residents of long-term-care facilities and more than 5600 people who work in those facilities have contracted COVID-19.  Those figures encompass 1063 facilities in 63 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
  • More than 12,200 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is more than twice what is was on October 1 and is at its highest level since June 2.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator also is more than twice what it was on October 1 and is at its highest level since mid-June.
  • 20 percent of hospital adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 16 percent of medical/surgical beds, 31 percent of pediatric beds, 11 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 38 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.  The medical/surgical and medical/surgical ICU bed figures are similar to what they have been in recent weeks but both pediatric figures are lower than they have been recently.

Department of Human Services

DHS’s Office of Long-Term Living and Office of Developmental Programs have updated their guidance on COVID-19 for personal care homes, assisted living residences, and private intermediate-care facilities.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

  • A reminder that applications for Phase 3 general distribution payments are due November 6.
  • Another reminder that HHS will hold a webcast about the Phase 3 general distribution on Monday, November 2 at 3:00 p.m. (eastern) for interested parties.  Go here to register for the webcast and to submit questions.  Also available are a fact sheet and a presentation about the Phase 3 general distribution.
  • HHS has added or modified 61 questions in its Provider Relief Fund FAQ.  The changes, labeled either “Added 10/28/2020” or “Modified 10/28/2020,” generally address auditing and reporting requirements for the Provider Relief Fund, including accounting for expenses and lost revenue, as well as the sharing of general distribution money among parent and subsidiary entities, executive salary cap calculations, and more.  The modified and added questions and answers offer additional details about many issues so providers should review these changes carefully.  The following excerpts address some specific matters about which providers have inquired:
    • ” Healthcare related expenses attributable to coronavirus may include items such as supplies, equipment, information technology, facilities, employees, and other healthcare related costs/expenses for the calendar year. The classification of items into categories should align with how Provider Relief Fund recipients maintain their records.” [emphasis added]
    • “… providers that already have a cost allocation methodology in place, may allocate normal and reasonable overhead costs to their subsidiaries which may be an eligible expense if attributable to coronavirus and not reimbursed from other sources.”
    • “HHS initially advised providers that once a subsidiary TIN attested to and accepted a General Distribution payment, the money must stay with, and be used by, the subsidiary TIN. However, HHS has received feedback indicating that some subsidiary TINs accepted a General Distribution payment prior to the release of this guidance, and that they would have had their parent TIN accept the money, had they known earlier of HHS’s position. In light of these timing concerns, HHS is revising its prior guidance and clarifying that, for General Distribution payments only, a subsidiary TIN can transfer its General Distribution payment to a parent TIN; this is true even if a subsidiary TIN initially attested to accepting a General Distribution payment. Consistent with other longstanding guidance, the parent TIN may use the money and/or allocate the money to other subsidiary TINs, as it deems appropriate. Regardless of which entity (the parent or subsidiary) attested to the receipt of the General Distribution payments, the parent entity can report on the use of the General Distribution payment as part of the HHS reporting process.”
    • “In accordance with the Terms and Conditions, if you believe you have received an overpayment and expect that you will have cumulative lost revenues and increased costs that are attributable to coronavirus during the COVID-19 public health emergency that exceed the intended calculated payment, then you may keep the payment.”
    • “Providers do not need to be able to prove, at the time they accept a Provider Relief Fund payment that prior and/or future lost revenues and increased expenses attributable to COVID-19 (excluding those covered by other sources of reimbursement) meet or exceed their Provider Relief Fund payment. Instead, HHS expects that providers will only use Provider Relief Fund payments for permissible purposes and if on June 30, 2021, providers have leftover Provider Relief Fund money that they cannot expend on permissible expenses or losses, then they will return this money to HHS.”
    • “The Terms and Conditions associated with each Provider Relief Fund payment do not permit recipients to use Provider Relief Fund money to pay salaries at a rate in excess of Executive Level II which is currently set at $197,300. For the purposes of the salary limitation, the direct salary is exclusive of fringe benefits and indirect costs. The limitation only applies to the rate of pay charged to Provider Relief Fund payments and other HHS awards. An organization receiving Provider Relief Fund payments may pay an individual’s salary amount in excess of the salary cap with non-federal funds” An example aggregate calculation is provided.
    • Again, we strongly encourage providers to review all of the 10/28 additions and modifications of the Provider Relief Fund FAQ.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • CMS has published an interim final rule that calls for several regulatory changes driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • All Medicare beneficiaries, including Medicare Advantage participants, will pay nothing for COVID-19 vaccines, as will most Medicaid beneficiaries.  Most private insurers are required to cover the vaccines as well.  Vaccines for the uninsured will be reimbursed in the same manner as care for the uninsured that is reimbursed through the Provider Relief Fund.
  • Medicare will make enhanced payments for eligible inpatient cases that involve use of certain new products authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.  The enhanced payments will be equal to the lesser of:  (1) 65 percent of the operating outlier threshold for the claim; or (2) 65 percent of the cost of a COVID-19 stay beyond the operating Medicare payment (including the 20 percent add-on payment under section 3710 of the CARES Act) for eligible cases.
  • States will retain their ability to gain an additional, temporary 6.2 percentage point increase in their federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP, the rate at which the federal government matches state Medicaid spending) if they agree to maintain the enrollment of “validly enrolled beneficiaries” through the end of the month in which the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.  States are permitted to make changes in beneficiary coverage, cost-sharing, and post-eligibility treatment of income.
  • This rule expands on previous CARES Act requirements that providers of COVID-19 tests publicize the cash prices for such tests, requiring that every provider of COVID-19 diagnostic tests make public on the internet the cash price for a COVID-19 diagnostic test.
  • This rule extends the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Program’s Performance Year 5 an additional six months, to September 30, 2021, changes the reconciliation periods for the program, and makes other changes in the program.
  • CMS has published its annual update of home health payment rates for calendar year 2021.  Included in this rule is a provision that makes permanent changes in home health regulations introduced as temporary in the March 2020 “Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID–19 Public Health Emergency” Interim Final Rule with Comment.  Under this provision, the temporary ability of home health agencies to use telehealth in the provision of home health care to qualified Medicare beneficiaries is now made permanent.  Learn more about this important change and other aspects of the 2021 home health regulation in this CMS news release.
  • CMS has updated its document “COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Billing.”  Updated information on pages 120 and 121 addresses temporary COVID-19 waivers that enable hospitals to provide certain outpatient services in alternative care settings.  Both updates are labeled “New: 10/28/20.”

Department of Health and Human Services

  • HHS announced that it will distribute $333 million in first round performance payments to more than 10,000 nursing homes for achieving significant reductions in COVID-19-related infections and deaths between August and September.  Nursing homes will receive September quality incentive payments next week and will have four more opportunities to receive additional incentive payments.  Go here to see CMS’s announcement about the awards and go here to see a state-by-state breakdown of those awards.
  • HHS’s Administration for Community Living hosts a monthly webinar series that invites subject matter experts and practitioners from across the home-and-community-based services (HCBS) spectrum to share insights and best practices to develop high-quality HCBS services and programs.  The next webinar will be held on November 12 at 3:00 (eastern) and feature payer and provider industry leaders discussing changes their industries have experienced since the beginning of the COVID-19 emergency and what lies ahead for them.  Several payers and providers will share innovations they used to address COVID.  Go here for more information and to register for the webinar.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

Congressional Research Service

The Congressional Research Service has published the new report “COVID-19 and the Uninsured: Federal Funding Options to Pay Providers for Testing and Treatment.”

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

2020-11-17T15:00:17+00:00November 2nd, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Friday, October 30

COVID-19 Update: Monday, October 26

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 3:45 p.m. on Monday, October 26.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf has written to President Trump asking him to work with Congress to provide funding to enable the state to continue its Regional Response Healthcare Collaborative Program (RRHCP) for which current funding expires on December 31.  The RRHCP is a partnership between the state’s departments of Human Services and Health and the Pennsylvania Emergency Managemental Agency through which selected Pennsylvania health systems work with long-term-care facilities that are vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing assistance with preparation, prevention, response, and education.

Department of Health

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 case count has now surpassed 195,000.  The daily total has been in four figures every day this month except for one, which has not happened since the early months of the pandemic.  This includes the three highest single-day new case counts since the pandemic began.
  • With today’s latest figures, the death count now nears 8700.  Daily death counts are now generally lower than they were in the spring.
  • Overall, more than 30,000 residents and employees of long-term-care facilities have contracted COVID-19.  Those figures encompass 1049 facilities in 63 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
  • More than 12,000 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
  • The state-wide positivity rate for COVID-19 tests is now five percent, up from 4.2 percent last week; 30 counties are currently above five percent.  Counties with what the state calls “concerning” positivity rates including Huntingdon (12 percent), Bradford (11.2 percent), Lawrence (9.0 percent), Lebanon (8.7 percent), and Westmoreland (8.4 percent).
  • According to the state’s weekly data dashboard, Berks, Bradford, Centre, Elk, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Lebanon, Luzerne, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and Westmoreland counties are in a “substantial” level of community transmission.  Allegheny County is now in a low level of community transmission.
  • The rate of response to contact tracing efforts is not very good, but Secretary Levine reports that among those who have recently been diagnosed with COVID-19 and who responded to inquiries about their recent whereabouts, 55 percent said they had visited a restaurant in the past two weeks and 13 percent said they had visited a bar.
  • Over the past two weeks more than 2000 cases have been diagnosed among school-aged children.  This reflects a change in the nature of who is contracting COVID-19:  while the numbers are up in all age groups, such cases are more common in people under the age of 50 than they were in the spring and early summer.
  • Labs are reporting an average of 34,000-35,000 test results a day.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is more than twice what it was on October 1.
  • Secretary Levine said that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients generally lags behind case count trends by about two weeks and can therefore be expected to continue rising in the coming weeks.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator also is up significantly this month.
  • But Secretary Levine explained that far fewer hospitalized COVID-19 patients are assisted by ventilators now than they were during the pandemic’s early days.  Back in the spring, roughly 30 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Pennsylvania were assisted by ventilators; now, only about 10 percent are.
  • She attributed this decline to how much providers have learned over the past few months about how to care for COVID-19 patients.  Both treatment and therapeutics have improved since the spring.  Patients continue to get very sick but the health care delivery system is better equipped to treat them.
  • 25 percent of hospital adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 22 percent of medical/surgical beds, 36 percent of pediatric beds, 13 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 40 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.  These figures are similar to what they were a week ago.

Department of Human Services

DHS’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) published a memorandum in August informing behavioral health managed care organizations, county mental health/intellectual disability offices, and behavioral health providers that specified state regulatory provisions have been temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 disaster emergency declaration period.  OMHSAS has now re-issued this memorandum to update signature requirements for treatment and service plans.  The notice applies to inpatient psychiatric services, outpatient psychiatric services, intensive behavioral health services, outpatient drug and alcohol services, mental health procedures, partial hospitalization, intensive case management, psychiatric rehabilitation services, community residential rehabilitation services, and long-term structured residences.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund:  Webcast on Phase 3 General Distribution

  • Applications for the Provider Relief Fund Phase 3 general distribution are now being accepted by HHS.  HHS will hold a webcast on Monday, November 2 at 3:00 p.m. (eastern) for interested parties.  Go here to register for the webcast and to submit questions.  Providers considering applying for Phase 3 general distribution funds that did not view the previous webcast should participate in this one in anticipation of the November 6 application deadline.  Also available are a fact sheet and a presentation about the Phase 3 general distribution.

Provider Relief Fund:  Financial Reporting

Last week we reported on HHS’s updating of its most recent Provider Relief Fund financial reporting instructions that broadened how fund recipients may use those funds.  That report was accompanied by an HHS policy memorandum and amended reporting requirements.  For providers interested in how HHS is defining parent entities in this update, the amended reporting requirements document includes the following explanation:

Reporting Entity: Entity (at the Tax Identification Number (TIN) level) that received one or more PRF [Provider Relief Fund] payments, or an entity that meets the following three criteria: 1) is the parent of one or more subsidiary billing TINs that received General Distribution payments, 2) has providers associated with it that were providing diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19 on or after January 31, 2020, and 3) is an entity that can otherwise attest to the Terms and Conditions. If the entity has subsidiary TINs that received General Distribution payments, regardless of whether the subsidiary or Reporting Entity formally attested to accepting the payment within the provider portal, the Reporting Entity may report on and direct the use of General Distribution payments. However, if a subsidiary TIN received a Targeted Distribution payment, 1 the subsidiary TIN must report use of funds for that payment, and the parent organization that reports on a subsidiary’s General Distribution payment cannot also report on (or transfer) the subsidiary’s Targeted Distribution payment.

Department of Health and Human Services

  • Four weeks after HHS announced that it would distribute 150 million state-of-the-art Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 tests nationally to assist with states’ reopening efforts, states have begun to report back to HHS about how they are choosing to distribute the rapid, point-of-care tests.  Of the states that have provided preliminary reports, the BinaxNOW allocations are largely being sent to local health departments, K-12 schools and institutes of higher education, nursing homes, hospitals, and correctional facilities.  Learn more from this HHS announcement about the status of the distribution and states’ responses to it.
  • HHS’s Office of the Inspector General has updated its work plan for COVID-19-related audits, evaluations, and inspections.

CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls 

CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information about the agency’s 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 participants an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.  Two such calls remain this month.

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Call

Tuesday, October 27 at 5:00 – 6:00 PM (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode:  2394789

Audio Webcast link:  go here to register for the call

Nursing Homes Call

Wednesday, October 28 at 4:30 – 5:00 PM (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode:  5587022
Audio Webcast Link:  go here to register for the call

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 other COVID-19 stakeholder calls, visit CMS’s podcast and transcripts page.

Food and Drug Administration

  • The FDA has approved the antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) for treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kilograms (about 88 pounds).
  • The FDA has consolidated its existing resources for stakeholders to easily find information about drug and biologics development and manufacturing, including for products to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent COVID-19 and for other critically needed products to treat symptoms of COVID-19 or to provide supportive care to those with COVID-19.  Go here to find the consolidated guide to these resources.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

 

 

2020-10-27T06:00:20+00:00October 27th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Monday, October 26

COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, October 20

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 case count so far is just short of 185,000.  The daily total has been in four figures every day this month except for one, which has not happened since the early months of the pandemic.
  • With today’s latest figures, the death count now exceeds 8500.
  • Of that number, 61 percent were residents of long-term-care facilities.
  • Overall, more than 24,700 residents of long-term-care facilities and more than 5400 people who work in those facilities have contracted COVID-19.  Those figures encompass 1028 facilities in 62 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
  • More than 11,700 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is up 65 percent since October 1.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator is up 57 percent since October 1 and is at its highest level since August 20.
  • 21 percent of hospital adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 19 percent of medical/surgical beds, 36 percent of pediatric beds, 20 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 39 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.  These figures are similar to what they were a week ago.
  • The weekly news release from the office of the governor and the Department of Health reported that during the week of October 9-15, the number of COVID-19 cases rose 17.9 percent over the previous week and the state-wide positivity rate for COVID-19 tests rose from 3.9 percent to 4.3 percent during the same period.
  • The highest positivity rates were in Huntingdon (9.9 percent), Westmoreland (8.9 percent), Bradford (8.3 percent), and Lackawanna, Lebanon, and Perry (8.2 percent) counties.
  • Counties found to have substantial levels of community transmission were Berks, Blair, Bradford, Centre, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Montour, Schuylkill, Union, and Westmoreland.
  • Allegheny and Philadelphia counties are considered to have “moderate” rates of community transmission.
  • Despite this, Philadelphia’s health commissioner reports that every zip code in the city is experiencing an increase in its number of cases, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
  • Eight percent of all cases to date in the 8-15 years-old age group occurred during the week of October 9-15.

Department of Human Services

DHS’s Office of Developmental Programs has updated operational guidance to implement services through Appendix K flexibilities approved for the Community Living, Consolidated and Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS) Waivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with a new question that appears on page 46 and is marked “Added 10/15/2020.”  The new question is An organization has prescription sales as part of its revenue.  Can these sales be captured in the data submitted as a part of revenue from patient care?”  The answer is “Generally no, prescriptions sale revenue may not be captured as part of revenue from patient care.  Only patient care revenues from providing health care, services, and supports, as provided in a medical setting, at home, or in the community may be included.  Patient care revenues do include savings obtained by providers through enrollment in the 340B Program.”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Department of Health and Human Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

  • The FDA has re-issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for certain filtering facepiece respirators that are not approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
  • The FDA has removed epinephrine from the list of drugs that it has authorized for temporary compounding during the COVID-19 emergency.  Find the updated list of authorized drugs here.
  • The FDA will host a virtual town hall for COVID-19 test developers on October 28, 2020 from 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm (eastern).  The purpose of this town hall is to help answer technical questions about the development and validation of tests for COVID-19.  Go here for information on how to join the event.

Department of Labor

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published an FAQ on how N95 respirators protect wearers from COVID-19 exposure.

 Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System will hold a webinar for its Main Street Lending Program on Wednesday, October 21 at 2:00 (eastern).  That program supports lending to small and medium-sized for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations that were in sound financial condition before the COVID-19 pandemic but lack access to credit on reasonable terms.  Go here to learn more about the program, sign up for the webinar, and submit questions about the program.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

 

 

2020-10-21T06:00:05+00:00October 21st, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, October 20

COVID-19 Update: Thursday, October 15

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 15.

 Pennsylvania Update

Department of Human Services

DHS’s Office of Developmental Programs has issued an FAQ on modifications to medication administration course requirements as a result of the COVID-19 emergency.  The audience for this FAQ is Office of Developmental Programs providers whose staff, contractors, or consultants are required by state law to take medication administration training.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Developmental Programs has temporarily permitted staff required to undergo such training to take a modified medication administration course.  The FAQ addresses the current state of the training requirement.

Department of Health

  • The Department of Health has issued new guidance for skilled nursing facilities that replaces guidance issued on September 3 and brings the agency’s guidance in line with recent CMS memoranda.  This document is a compendium of all COVID-19-related guidance and recommendations in areas such as testing, visitation, cohorting, and reporting.
  • The Department of Health announced that the state has begun distributing the first allotment of 250,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen test cards provided by the federal government.
  • Distribution is beginning with Bradford, Centre, Lebanon, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Snyder counties because of the recent high COVID-19 incidence rates in those areas.
  • The tests are being distributed to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified organizations, including long-term-care facilities, personal care homes and assisted living/intermediate-care facilities, higher education institutions, drug and alcohol and behavioral health treatment centers, state and county correctional facilities, and health care providers such as FQHCs, urgent care centers, pharmacies, and primary care doctors.
  • Populations targeted for testing with these materials include individuals in congregate care settings, day care workers and clients, K-12 students and adults who work in K-12 settings, college and university students, individuals without permanent housing, food distribution facility employees, food workers, and first responders.
  • These test kits are separate from and in addition to the tests being provided by the federal government directly to skilled nursing facilities, personal care homes, and historically black colleges and universities.
  • The Secretary of Health issued an order to laboratories, health care practitioners, health care providers, and facilities reinforcing that all antigen test results, both positive and negative, must be reported to the Department of Health via its reporting system, PA-NEDSS.

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • The weekly news release from the office of the governor and the Department of Health cited 14 counties as concerns because of their high rate of positive test results:  Northumberland (8.6 percent), Centre (7.6 percent), Bradford (7.4 percent), Lebanon (7.4 percent), Lawrence (6.9 percent), Potter (6.3 percent), Westmoreland (6.3 percent), Fulton (6.2 percent), Montour (6.0 percent), Berks (5.9 percent), Indiana (5.9 percent), Huntingdon (5.8 percent), Lackawanna (5.4 percent), and Schuylkill (5.0 percent).  It also noted that “Each of these counties bears watching as the state continues to monitor all available data.”
  • With the increase in cases in Northumberland County, the Department of Health has arranged for an outdoor testing site from October 16-20.  The tests are free and appointments are not needed.
  • The number of new COVID-19 cases has been in four digits in 14 of the 15 days of October – the first time that has happened in more than four months.  Today’s new case count is the highest single day figure since at least May.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is up 43 percent since October 1.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator is up 57 percent since October 1 and is at its highest level since August 20.
  • 22 percent of hospital adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 18 percent of medical/surgical beds, 33 percent of pediatric beds, 13 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 38 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.  These figures are almost identical to what they were a week ago.
  • More than 11,500 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

  • Yesterday HHS held a webinar to provide more detailed information to health care providers about its planned $20 billion CARES Act Provider Relief Fund Phase 3 general distribution. It used this toolkit during the webinar.  The deadline for applying for a Phase 3 general distribution is November 6.
  • During the webinar, providers that have received Provider Relief Fund general distributions in the past were advised that they need to submit an entirely new application to participate in Phase 3 and be eligible to receive any add-on payment that HHS distributes from the funding pool that remains after all applicants have received payments equal to two percent of patient care revenue.  There are no details available on how these potential add-on payments might be calculated.
  • During the webinar HHS offered a point of contact for stakeholders with questions about the Provider Relief Fund and payments for testing and treatment for the uninsured: its Provider Support Line at 866-569-3522 (for TYY, dial 711).

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • CMS has expanded the list of telehealth services that Medicare fee-for-service will pay for during the COVID-19 public health emergency, adding 11 new services to the Medicare telehealth services list. Medicare will begin paying for these services immediately and for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency.  These new telehealth services include certain neurostimulator analysis and programming services and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services.  Go here to see CMS’s announcement of the newly authorized telehealth services and here for a link to the list of the new services and their billing codes.
  • CMS has published the document “State Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Toolkit: Policy Considerations for States Expanding Use of Telehealth” and subtitled it “COVID-19 Version.”  The document explains thatThis guide is intended to help states identify which aspects of their statutory and regulatory infrastructure may impede the rapid deployment of telehealth capabilities in their Medicaid program.  As such, this guide will describe each of these policy areas and the challenges they present below.  The toolkit concludes with a list of questions state policymakers can use to ensure they have explored and/or addressed potential obstacles.”  It also notes that “CMS encourages states to consider telehealth options as a flexibility in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing access to care.  States are encouraged to facilitate clinically appropriate care within the Medicaid program using telehealth technology to deliver services covered by the state.”  CMS also has published a supplement to this guide, “State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit:  Policy Considerations for States Expanding Use of Telehealth,” and subtitled it “COVID-19 Version:  Supplement #1.”  This document is dated October 14, 2020.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

 

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

 

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

2020-10-16T06:00:49+00:00October 16th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Thursday, October 15

SNAP Asks PA Congressional Delegation to Help Preserve Federal COVID-19 Aid for Hospitals

Protect the COVID-19 aid the federal government has given to Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and others, SNAP has asked in a letter to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logoThe letter refers to changes in how the federal Department of Health and Human Services wants hospitals to calculate the revenue they lost as a result of COVID-19 – the justification in part for the Provider Relief Fund payments hospitals have received through the CARES Act.  In June, HHS told hospitals how to make that calculation but late last month it changed those directions in ways that could force many Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals to return some or even much of the federal aid they received.

In the letter, SNAP asks members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to join a bipartisan letter asking HHS Secretary Alex Azar to restore the June instructions for calculating COVID-19-related lost hospital revenue.

Go here to read SNAP’s message to Congress.

2020-10-14T11:43:19+00:00October 14th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off on SNAP Asks PA Congressional Delegation to Help Preserve Federal COVID-19 Aid for Hospitals

COVID-19 Update: Friday, October 9

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 2:15 p.m. on Friday, October 9.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Human Services

The Department of Human Services has been issued a section 1135 waiver by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  The waiver consists of two parts:  it permits the provision of clinic services without the supervision of a physician or dentist and it permits the provision of inpatient psychiatric services to patients under the age of 21 without the direction of a physician.  The purpose of section 1135 waivers is to give states greater flexibility to serve their Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  Go here to see the waiver issued to Pennsylvania.

DHS has issued guidance to establish a state-wide protocol to manage situations in which a child care facility must relocate operation due to local education agency decisions to limit access to their facilities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Department of Health

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • The number of new COVID-19 cases has been in four digits for four days in a row – the first time that has happened in more than four months.
  • The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is up 32 percent since October 1.
  • The number of COVID-19 patients currently breathing with the help of a ventilator is up 53 percent since October 1 and is at its highest level since August 20.
  • Until today, deaths had been up in recent days but not outside the typical range over the past three months.
  • With the new deaths reported today, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Pennsylvania now exceeds 8300.
  • Hospital bed capacity remains generally strong:  22 percent of adult ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 18 percent of medical/surgical beds, 32 percent of pediatric beds, 11 percent of pediatric ICU beds, and 38 percent of airborne isolation unit beds.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • CMS has published more information about the new terms for repaying Medicare loans the federal government made to providers through Medicare’s Advanced and Accelerated Payment Program.  The new terms include a delayed deadline for beginning repayment, an extended period to make repayment, lower interest rates for those who do not repay their loans on time, and a process for seeking an extension on loan repayment.  Learn more from the following resources:
  • CMS’s announcement of the program’s repayment terms
  • a fact sheet on the program changes
  • an FAQ on the changes

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.

Office Hours

Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and health care systems to increase hospital capacity, expand the health care workforce, and promote telehealth in Medicare.

Tuesday, October 13 at 5:00 (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 6379959
Audio Webcast link: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2607

Tuesday, October 27 at 5:00  (eastern) – dial-in and other information to be announced later.

Nursing Homes

Wednesday, October 14 at 4:30 (eastern)
Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1897041 Audio Webcast Link: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2622

Wednesday, October 28 at 4:30 (eastern) – dial-in and other information to be announced later.

American Medical Association

The AMA has introduced new CPT codes for COVID-19 testing and for joint COVID-19/flu testing and other COVID-19-related activities.

Food and Drug Administration

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC has published a flowchart for the management of health care workers who have been exposed to a person with COVID-19

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

 

2020-10-12T20:19:11+00:00October 12th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: Friday, October 9
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