During this critical time, Home Health Care News remains committed to bringing you all the essential news related to home-based care operations. At the same time, we also recognize the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to our regular content, we’ll continue to highlight industry-related developments and mitigation strategies in this rolling bulletin.

What you need to know from Monday (March 30)

—  CMS has announced yet another round of temporary rules and waivers to help providers combat and mitigate COVID-19. The changes include a suspension of the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) and more.

— President Donald Trump extended the nationwide social distancing guidelines through April 30, while also sharing his expectation that the country would be “well on our way to recovery” by June 1.

— The Department of Labor has clarified which health care providers are exempt from new federally mandated paid sick leave rules. Home health care providers made the cut, while home care providers are optimistically seeking additional guidance.

— The Alzheimer’s Association worked with dozens of long-term care stakeholders to develop and publish new coronavirus-related guidelines for providers who care for people with dementia.

— The CDC has issued a travel warning for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where more than half of the nation’s COVID-19 cases are.

— A 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship docked in NYC Monday to help take some burden off of the city’s hospitals.

CMS takes action

CMS is giving Medicare providers even more flexibility to provide services via telehealth in light of COVID-19.

The agency announced Monday that it will temporarily pay (some) providers for virtual visits at in-person visit rates and that it will allow more than 80 additional services to be furnished via telehealth. 

“Front line healthcare providers need to be able to focus on patient care in the most flexible and innovative ways possible,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a press release announcing the news. “This unprecedented temporary relaxation in regulation will help the healthcare system deal with patient surges by giving it tools and support to create non-traditional care sites and staff them quickly.”

CMS also reiterated that face-to-face visit requirements for home health can now be fulfilled using telehealth. Additionally, providers can evaluate beneficiaries using audio alone, rather than audio and video together. 

Additionally, directly related to home health care, CMS said it is loosening the Medicare homebound requirement and suspending RCD.

For daily updates from the week of March 23, click here.

For daily updates from the week of March 16, click here.

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