Category: Critical Access Hospitals/Rural Healthcare

New CMS COVID-19 Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers

On March 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a compilation of COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers (each, a “Blanket Waiver”). Section 1135 of the Social Security Act gives CMS the authority to issue waivers that ease requirements for providers affected by an emergency if: (1) the...

COVID-19 and EMTALA: Ongoing Requirements and New Waivers

On March 9, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Quality, Safety and Oversight Group (“QSO”) issued a memorandum, QSO-20-15, providing guidance to health care providers related to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (“EMTALA”) implications regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. EMTALA is a Federal law that requires all Medicare-participating hospitals (including critical...

Q&A: Financial Restructuring and Healthcare Providers

Any casual reader of healthcare news in recent years has taken note of the upheaval and financial uncertainty facing healthcare providers. Take for example a recent Bloomberg story detailing the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia – “Philadelphia Hospital Collapse Highlights Healthcare ‘Anarchy’”. Anarchy or not, closures, consolidations, and financial restructuring are all too...

At Long Last, CMS Issues Proposed Guidance on Hospital Co-Locations

For years, CMS has informally applied restrictions for hospitals which share space, equipment, staff or services in the same physical location (i.e., “co-locate”) with other hospitals or health care entities.  Although these sub-regulatory interpretations by CMS were not formal guidance, the penalties were so severe that many hospitals unwound the co-location or shared services arrangements...

CMS Announces Rural Health Strategy

Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its first Rural Health Strategy. The strategy is intended to improve the agency’s service to individuals living in rural areas. CMS’ Rural Health Council, created during the Obama Administration, developed the strategy by examining current rural-focused programs at CMS, reviewing the methods used by...

HIMMS, Chronic Care Management, and the Top 5 Overlooked Items

Harnessing existing digital health solutions to improve chronic care management was a prominent topic at HIMMS this year (amongst many others, including AI and cybersecurity, both of which we will cover in upcoming blog posts). While this is not a new topic, it was particularly “buzzy” this year due to the ever-increasing number of large...

Significant Changes in Healthcare Laws Enacted Through the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018: Stark, Civil and Criminal Penalties, Telehealth, ACOs and More

Overview On February 9, President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (“BBA”) into law. The BBA funds the federal government through March 23 and included a bipartisan agreement to increase annual spending authority for a two-year period. In addition, the legislation contains significant policy changes impacting Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health agencies....

Medicare Proposes Continued Relief for Critical Access and Rural Hospitals Through 2-Year Moratorium on Direct Supervision Requirements

On July 13, 2017, CMS released a proposed rule as part of its 2018 Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposals [available here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2017-14883.pdf] that is aimed at helping to reduce some of the burdens rural hospitals experience in recruiting physicians. Specifically, CMS proposes a two-year moratorium, for CY 2018 and CY 2019, on the direct supervision requirements...