Below are the latest CMS COVID-19 regulatory updates from this week, along with call-in information for this week’s stakeholder calls.
CMS no longer accepting applications for Medicare Accelerated Payment Program
On April 26, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is reevaluating the amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program to Part B providers and suppliers. Effective immediately, CMS will not accept any new applications for the Advance Payment Program in light of the recently appropriated $100 billion authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the $75 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act for healthcare providers. The Department of Health and Human Services is distributing this money through the Provider Relief Fund, and unlike the Accelerated Payment Program, the payments allocated under the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program do not need to be repaid.
New toolkit to accelerate state use of telehealth in Medicaid and CHIP
Since states have broad flexibility to expand telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS has created a toolkit to guide Medicaid and CHIP plans in making policy decisions. Coverage and payment policies vary by state within federal parameters, and this toolkit will help states identify policies that may impede the rapid deployment of telehealth when providing care.
CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Engagement Calls – Week of April 27
CMS “Office Hour Calls” are hosted every Tuesday and Thursday at 5 p.m., ET. The calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, physicians and clinicians to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and healthcare system. Here are the details for this week’s Office Hour Calls:
Toll Free Attendee Dial In: (833) 614-0820; Access Passcode: 5787874
CMS “Lessons from the Front Lines” calls are held on Fridays at 12:30 p.m., ET. These calls are a joint effort between CMS Administrator Seema Verma, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, MD, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Physicians and other clinicians are invited to share their experience, ideas, strategies, and insights with one another related to their COVID-19 response, and ask questions.
Here are the details for this week’s Lessons from the Front Lines call:
Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: (877) 251-0301; Access Code: 9545128