Knowledge Base Article

MMP remains committed to continuing to monitor for COVID-19 updates specific to our reader base. This week’s updates span from April 2nd through April 13th.

Johns Hopkin’s Coronavirus Resource Center

In last week’s COVID-19 updates article we highlighted the Institute for Health Metrics and Education (IHME) COVID-10 Projection Models (link to Project: https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections). This week I want to make readers aware of the Johns Hopkin’s Coronavirus Resource Center where you will find world and U.S. specific numbers as well as critical trends.

April 2, 2020: CDC Posts Guidance on How to Certify Deaths due to COVID-19

The National Centers for Health Statistics (NCHS) is responding to COVID-19 with new resources to monitor and report deaths. On April 2nd the document Guidance for Certifying Deaths Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was posted on the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Death Data and Reporting Guidance webpage. This document provides guidance to death certifiers on proper cause-of-death certification for cases where confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection resulted in death. You can also find provisional death counts for COVID-19 (updated daily Monday through Friday) and NVSS COVID-19 Alerts on this webpage.

April 3, 2020: Lessons Learned from the Front Lines: COVID-19

On April 3, CMS Administrator Seema Verma, Deborah Birx, MD, White House Coronavirus Task Force, and officials from the FDA, CDC, and FEMA participated in a call on COVID-19 Flexibilities. Several physician guests on the front lines presented best practices from their COVID-19 experiences. You can listen to the conversation here.

April 3, 2020: Palmetto GBA updates COVID-19 Accelerated Payment Hotline FAQs

Following is an example of one question available in this FAQs document:  

• Question: How many months will we be able to ask for help?
• Answer: CMS' payment provision at this time is for a three-month or six-month operating period, depending upon your provider type.
  

Note: Hospital sub-units are eligible for payment for a three-month operating period. Only Inpatient acute care hospitals, children's hospitals, certain cancer care hospitals, and critical access hospitals are eligible for payment for a six-month operating period at this time.

April 4, 2020: CDC Post: Cloth Face Covers Guidance to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19

The CDC posted guidance regarding cloth face covers including the following:

• Recommendations regarding the use of cloth face coverings,
• How to wear a face cloth,
• Sew and no sew instructions for a face cloth, and
• Cloth face covers FAQs.

April 6, 2020: FDA Coronavirus Daily Update: Diagnostics Update to Date

• The FDA has worked with more than 270 test developers who have said they will be submitting emergency use authorizations (EUA) requests to FDA for tests that detect COVID-19.
• To date, 28 emergency use authorizations have been issued for diagnostic tests.
• The FDA has been notified that more than 145 laboratories have begun testing under the policies set forth in our COVID-19 Policy for Diagnostic Tests for Coronavirus Disease-2019 during the Public Health Emergency Guidance.
• The FDA also continues to keep its COVID-19 Diagnostics FAQ up to date.

April 6, 2020: OIG Issues Policy Statement and FAQs Regarding Application of Certain Administrative Enforcement Authorities Due to Declaration of COVID-19 Outbreak

The OIG issued the Policy Statement to “notify interested parties that OIG will exercise its enforcement discretion not to impose administrative sanctions under the Federal anti-kickback statute for certain remuneration related to COVID-19 covered by the Blanket Waivers of Section 1877(g) of the Social Security Act (the Act) issued by the Secretary on March 30, 2020 (the Blanket Waivers), subject to the conditions specified herein.”

The OIG also provided a link to a related FAQ webpage where they encourage providers to submit questions regarding how OIG would view an arrangement that is directly connected to the public health emergency. Currently, OIG offers an answer to the following question:

• Can health care providers and practitioners furnish services, not to exceed their scope of practice, for free or at a reduced rate, to assist skilled nursing facilities (SNFSs) or other long-term-care providers that are facing staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 outbreak?

April 7, 2020: Eli Lilly Announces New $35 Co-Pay Available

Eli Lilly introduced the Lilly Insulin Value Program. Mike Mason, president, Lilly Diabetes noted in the announcement that “too many people in the U.S. have lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 crises, and we want to make sure that no one goes without their Lilly insulin…we’ve been providing affordability solutions for a long time, but more is needed to help people during this unprecedented period.” About the Program

• The program became effective on April 7th and covers most Lilly insulins including all Humalog® (insulin lispro injection 100 units/mL) formulations.
• This Program is for people with commercial insurance and those without insurance to be able to fill their monthly prescription of Lilly insulin for $35.
• The savings can be obtained by calling the Lilly Diabetes Solution Center at (833) 808-1234. The Center is open 8 am to 8 pm (EDT) Monday through Friday.

April 7, 2020: CMS Waivers and COVID-19 Response Call

During this call the CMS provided updates on recent CMS actions taken to address the COVID-19 public health emergency. You can view the call slide deck at https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-waivers-and-covid-19-response.pdf.

April 7, 2020: CMS Letter to Clinicians

CMS posted a Letter outlining a summary of actions taken by CMS to ensure clinicians have maximum flexibility to provide patient care during the COVID-19 outbreak. This summary includes information about telehealth and virtual visits, accelerated and advanced payments, and recent waiver information.

April 7, 2020: CMS Updates Non-Emergent, Elective Medical Services, and Treatment Recommendations Document

CMS initially announced in a March 18th Press Release that all elective surgeries, non-essential medical, surgical, and dental procedures be delayed during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Working with medical societies and association, CMS announced on April 7th that the recommendations to limit medical services that can be deferred. “A tiered framework is recommended to prioritize services and care to those who require emergent or urgent attention to save a life, manage a severe disease, or avoid further harms from an underlying condition.”

April 8, 2020: CMS Issues New Wave of Infection Control Guidance

Based on CDC guidelines, CMS announced in April 8th Press Release a new wave of infection control guidance for several health settings. “For hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and CAHs, the revised guidance, for example, provides expanded recommendations on screening and visitation restrictions, discharge to subsequent care locations for patients with COVID-19, recommendations related to staff screening and testing, and return-to-work policies.”

April 9, 2020: CMS Temporarily Suspends a Number of Rule to Boost Frontline Medical Staff

Changes affecting doctors, nurses, and other clinicians were announced focusing “on reducing supervision and certification requirements so that practitioners can be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses. The new waivers sharply expand the workforce flexibilities CMS announced on March 30.” This Press Release provides a link to a complete list of waivers announced today and in recent weeks.

April 9, 2020: COVID-19 FAQs on Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Billing – Updated

CMS announced in Special Edition MLN Connects that the COVID-19 FAQs have been updated. They advise that you check this resource often as it is updated on a regular basis. They noted that a date is added at the end of an FAQ when it is new or the content has been updated. As of Monday April 13th this 38 page document included FAQs related to the following topics:

• Payment for specimen collection for purposed of COVID-19 testing,
• Diagnostic laboratory services,
• Hospital services,
• Ambulance services,
• Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers,
• Medicare telehealth. (CMS notes this document does not include flexibilities that might be exercised under the CARES Act),
• Physician Services
• Home Infusion Services,
• Accountable Care Organizations,
• Opioid Treatment Programs,
• Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility services,
• Skilled Nursing Facility services,
• General billing requirement,
• Home Health,
• Drugs and Vaccines under Part B,
• Medicare payment to facilities accepting government resources, and
• Oxygen

April 10, 2020: MLN SE20011 Medicare Fee-for-Service Response to the Public Health Emergency on the Coronavirus (COVID-10) Revised

Following is a list of revisions made to this MLN article:

• Link to all the blanket waivers related to COVID-19,
• Provide place of service coding guidance for telehealth claims,
• Link to the Telehealth Video for COVID-19,
• Add information on the waiver of coinsurance and deductibles for certain testing and related services,
• Add information on the expanded use of ambulance origin/destination modifiers,
• Provide new specimen collection codes for clinical diagnostic laboratories billing, and
• Add guidance regarding delivering notices to beneficiaries.

April 10, 2020: Special MLNConnects – Sequestration Adjustment Suspended

CMS announced in an April 10th Special Edition MLNConnects that Section 3709 of the 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.

April 11, 2020: Expanded Coverage for Essential Diagnostic Services amid COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

The CMS and the Departments of Labor and the Treasury announced in a CMS Press Release that guidance has been issued ensuring Americans with private health insurance have coverage of COVID-19 diagnostic testing and certain other related services, including antibody testing, at no cost. The guidance is made available in the format of an FAQ Document. Following are just a few of the questions that are answered in the guidance:

• The types of group health plans and health insurance that are subject to this guidance,
• What plans are insurers are required to comply with and for how long, and
• What items and services plans and insurers must provide.

April 13, 2020: United Healthcare Waiving CMS Originating Site Restriction & Audio-Video Requirement

The UnitedHealthcare Telehealth webpage was most recently updated on April 13, 2020. Included on this page is the announcement that they will be waiving the CMS originating site restriction and audio-video requirement for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and Individual and Group Market health plan members from March 18, 2020 until June 18, 2020. You can read the entire announcement on the UnitedHealthcare COVID-19 Telehealth webpage at: https://www.uhcprovider.com/en/resource-library/news/Novel-Coronavirus-COVID-19/covid19-telehealth-services/covid19-telehealth-services-telehealth.html.

April 13, 2020: Immediate Infusion of $30 Billion into the Health Care System

Late Monday afternoon I started receiving the following notice in my inbox from different MACs around the country:

“Recognizing the importance of delivering funds in a fast and transparent manner, $30 billion is being distributed immediately through a program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services – with payments arriving via direct deposit beginning April 10, 2020 – to eligible providers throughout the American health care system. These payments are unrelated to the Accelerated and Advanced Payments you may have requested from Medicare.

The automatic payments will come from Optum Bank with "HHSPAYMENT" as the payment description. Find more information about these payments at http://www.hhs.gov/provider-relief/index.html.”

When you access the hhs.gov webpage, the announcement includes the following bolded sentence: These are payments, not loans, to healthcare providers, and will not need to be repaid.