Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
The National Government Services (NGS) supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) announcements that suggest Medicare patients get their flu and pneumonia shots. Medicare patients should remain current with flu, pneumonia and other vaccinations, according to NGS. A high-dose flu vaccine should be given to people who […]
CMS announced August 17 that routine inspections will resume for all Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and suppliers. Onsite revisit surveys, non-immediate jeopardy complaint surveys and annual recertification surveys will resume as soon as resources are available. CMS has also provided guidance on resolving enforcement cases that were previously on hold due to survey reprioritization […]
Any providers and suppliers interested in becoming a Home Infusion Therapy (HIT) supplier will be treated as new entrants into the program and be required to comply with all Medicare provider enrollment regulations, according to the 2021 proposed home health prospective payment rate update rule. A HIT supplier can be a pharmacy, physician or provider […]
Medicare relief funds have been an integral part in keeping some SNFs afloat since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but some providers have yet to see any financial relief. Providers that took over SNFs in early 2020, before the pandemic, were not included in the previous federal aid packages, as the relief funds were […]
CMS released Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Medicare fee-for-service billing. These FAQs are supplemental to those previously released by CMS in March. To view those, visit https://go.cms.gov/2yIS29R. CMS noted in the release that in many instances, the general statements of the FAQs referenced above have been superseded by COVID-19-specific legislation, emergency rules and waivers granted […]
In order for a patient to receive the Medicare hospice benefit, the patient must be certified as terminally ill, according to a cgsmedicare webpage. The certification/recertification is an important part of required documentation for Medicare payment for the hospice services provided. A common reason for hospice certification errors are related to a missing or invalid […]
CMS announced that Medicare will now cover any medically necessary ambulance ride for individuals with COVID-19 from any origin to any destination equipped to treat the patient’s condition. Acceptable destinations include, but are not limited to: Any location that is an alternative site determined to be part of a hospital, Critical Access Hospital (CAH), or […]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its financial effect, CMS has implemented an accelerated and advance payment request and approval, according to a CMS fact sheet. As part of the accelerated and advance payment request and approval, CMS will provide accelerated payments to Medicare Part A providers and advance payments to Medicare Part B providers […]
With COVID-19 being declared a national emergency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) can waive some requirements in Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP with Section 1135 authority, according to a CMS news release. Florida was the first state to submit a Section 1135 waiver request due to COVID-19. CMS approved a wide variety of […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) for healthcare providers regarding Medicare payment for laboratory tests and other services related to the 2019-Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The agency is receiving questions from providers and created this document to be transparent and share answers to some of the most […]