Due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), on May 24, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the extension of the submission deadline for both new and amendmentsto existing Medicare GME affiliation agreements to January 1, 2022. As CMS further explains on page 8 of COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket ...
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published updated guidance providing that fully vaccinated persons in non-healthcare settings need not wear masks indoors. However, the guidance explicitly said that this relaxation of mask standards did not apply to healthcare settings, which were still controlled by ...
By: Kathie McDonald-McClure
On May 24, 2021, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted a new Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to the OIG COVID-19 FAQ webpage on the topic of rewarding Federal healthcare program beneficiaries for receiving a COVID-19 vaccination (the “Vaccine”). The question posed was as follows:
Would the offer or ...
By: Glen M. Krebs, contributing author Glen W. Krebs, Wyatt Summer Associate
On May 25, 2021, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made available a supplemental increase of 22,000 visas for H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers. The H-2B visas are for U.S. businesses that will likely suffer irreparable harm without the ability to employ ...
Good news abounds for employers and employees alike! The CDC, as well as Ohio and Kentucky, have relaxed masking and social distancing requirements for vaccinated workers in most settings. Both Ohio and Kentucky have said that all emergency health orders related to Covid, with some exceptions, will be lifted in June. OSHA, for its part, has said ...
By: Marianna J. Michael
On May 18, 2021, the Supreme Court of Kentucky issued what could be some of its last orders regarding COVID-19 and lifted many of the restrictions established during the course of the pandemic. The Court noted the changes are based on the decline of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Kentucky as well as the ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) issued the welcome guidance that fully-vaccinated individuals[1] no longer need to wear masks or practice physical distancing except where required by federal, state, or local laws, including local business and workplace guidance, nor do they need to quarantine ...
On May 5, 2021, CMS announced that, effective March 1, 2020, where the following criteria are satisfied, Medicare will pay for ground ambulance services without a transport during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE):
- The ground ambulance service was furnished in response to a 911 call (or the equivalent in areas without a 911 call system); and
On May 12, 2021, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra reported to the House Energy and Commerce Committee that HHS is considering extending the June 30 deadline for providers to use their distributions from the Provider Relief Fund created by the CARES Act in 2020. At the moment, HHS is looking at the issue ...
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department of Medicaid Services (DMS) is reinstating the ability of Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and Medicaid Fee-for-Service (FFS) to require prior authorization (PA) for inpatient medical and surgical services, effective June 1, 2021. DMS is also reinstating the ability to ...