Last month, I had the immense honor of testifying before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to take part in an important discussion on caring for America’s aging population in the midst of the current public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended American life in nearly every possible way. And while it’s difficult to find […]
Last week, new legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require Medicare to reimburse certain telehealth services post the public health emergency period. If passed, the bipartisan Helping Ensure Access to Local TeleHealth Act of 2020 or HEALTH Act of 2020 (the “HEALTH Act of 2020”) would codify Medicare reimbursement and allow […]
By KEN TERRY Telehealth has been a lifeline for many doctors and patients during the pandemic, and the decisions of CMS and many private payers to cover telehealth visits—in some cases, at full parity with in-person visits–has helped physician practices stave off bankruptcy. Assuming that these policies remain in effect after the pandemic, I agree with […]
Monday, June 22, 2020 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued more than 100 waivers giving healthcare providers the flexibility to meet the demands presented by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These waiver flexibilities are temporary, however. The authority to grant public health emergency-based waivers under §1135 of the Social Security Act is […]
With millions of people suddenly video chatting their doctors, there’s pressure on Washington to make telehealth a permanent option. By MOHANA RAVINDRANATH An explosion of virtual care during the pandemic is raising expectations that Washington will make sure Americans can continue video chatting with their doctors after the health crisis subsides. Telehealth had been inching ahead […]
By Alex Spanko | June 22, 2020 Early research into the impact of COVID-19 on seniors — both among the general population, and in nursing homes — has revealed endemic connections among race, income, and the likelihood of infection and death. Those patterns, reinforced by a new set of data probing COVID-19’s impact on Medicare beneficiaries, should prompt […]
Many home care providers jumped at the chance to create new Medicare Advantage (MA) business lines after the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began making supplemental benefits more flexible more than two years ago. Now, those same providers that got into MA early are beginning to better understand the space while hunting […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create barriers to in-person care, there has been increased focus on enabling the delivery of healthcare services through telehealth. Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and state Medicaid programs have identified reimbursement for telehealth and telephonic services provided by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural […]
President Trump’s top Medicare official said Tuesday that expanded access to telemedicine should continue after the coronavirus pandemic recedes and that officials are examining ways to act without waiting for legislation from Congress. “I can’t imagine going back,” said Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told STAT during a live virtual […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of telehealth for primary care, and patient-centered care is now easier than ever. This has been the model promoted as early as 1967 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The idea is that the patient and not the physician or the hospital is at the center […]
Physicians have been challenged to reinvent their practices in order to accommodate their patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. The growing market of remote patient monitoring (RPM) has become a sought-after solution as indicated by recent increased demand and supply shortages. As such, GlobalData expects the RPM market to double over the next five years. As […]
The COVID-19 virus has thrown a wrench into any home health care plans the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initially had for 2020. Instead of mainly focusing on the launch of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and other initiatives, the agency has had to make a slew of critical decisions in support […]
Stakeholders are calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to make telehealth policy changes permanent. Healthcare stakeholders are calling for telehealth policy changes made during the COVID-19 pandemic to remain even after the pandemic ends. Since March, federal organizations such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have taken steps […]
Medicare Advantage plans need to figure out how the delay of care due to the COVID-19 pandemic will impact their risk scores in the long term, experts say. Many of the services that have been deferred by consumers would have made up the sources of diagnoses that plans would have used to establish risk scores for […]
The Federal Trade Commission has offered its views on several proposals to expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage for telehealth services after the COVID-19 emergency is over. June 05, 2020 – The Federal Trade Commission is joining the groundswell of support for developing new CMS telehealth coverage policies beyond the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter sent last month to […]