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The federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently published a report (OIG Report) as part of a series of analyses of the expansion and utilization of telehealth in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.  In its report, the OIG concludes that telehealth was “critical for providing services to Medicare beneficiaries during the first year of the pandemic” and that the utilization of telehealth “demonstrates the long-term potential of telehealth to increase access to health care for beneficiaries.” The OIG’s conclusions are notable because they come at a time when policymakers and health care stakeholders are determining whether and how to make permanent certain expansions of telehealth for patients nationwide.
Continue Reading OIG: Telehealth “Critical” to Maintaining Access to Care Amidst COVID-19

On March 16, 2022, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) published Advisory Opinion 22-05 (Advisory Opinion) in which it declined to impose sanctions against a medical device manufacturer (Requestor) that proposes to pay certain cost-sharing obligations of clinical trial participants, including Medicare beneficiaries. The OIG concluded that although the proposed arrangement (described below) would constitute prohibited remuneration under the Federal anti-kickback statute (AKS) and the beneficiary inducement prohibitions of the Civil Monetary Penalties Law (CMP), the low-risk nature of the proposed arrangement did not warrant the imposition of sanctions.
Continue Reading Advisory Opinion 22-05: OIG Declines to Impose Sanctions Against Device Manufacturer’s Medicare Cost-Sharing Subsidy in Clinical Trial

In a per curiam decision issued January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal health care worker vaccine mandate rule, finding that the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was authorized by law to issue the rule.  See our previous analyses of the rule and subsequent litigation here and here for more background information on the stakes of this case.
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Worker Vaccine Mandate

On December 2, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memorandum to state survey agencies indicating that it will not enforce its Interim Final Rule (the “Rule”) regarding health care worker vaccinations while there are court-ordered injunctions against the Rule in place.
Continue Reading CMS Issues Memorandum Stating It Will Not Enforce Its COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate While There are Court-Ordered Injunctions in Place

On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued heavily anticipated emergency regulations requiring COVID-19 vaccination of eligible staff at health care facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. CMS issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) in response to the COVID-19 “Path out of the Pandemic” Action Plan announced by President Biden on September 9, 2021, that per CMS is intended to protect the health and safety of residents, patients and staff at health care facilities. See our previous analysis of the Plan here.

Below please find key takeaways regarding the new COVID-19 vaccination requirements for health care facilities and staff:
Continue Reading CMS Issues Emergency Regulation Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for Health Care Facility Workers

On November 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its 2021 End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System Rule. Among other things, the final rule expands Medicare payments for in-home dialysis equipment and supplies as part of an effort to encourage in-home care for populations vulnerable to COVID-19. We previously wrote about the proposed rule here.
Continue Reading CMS Finalizes 2021 End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System Rule Expanding Payments for In-Home Dialysis Equipment and Supplies

On October 14, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded the list of telehealth services covered by Medicare during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. CMS also announced it would be providing additional support to state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies in delivering telehealth services. CMS added the telehealth services using, for the first time, an expedited process that does not involve rulemaking which had been established by CMS in May 2020.
Continue Reading CMS Announces New Telehealth Services Covered by Medicare and Provides States with Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Expansion Assistance

On July 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed its calendar year 2021 End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) rule. ESRD PPS rules are promulgated on an annual basis, providing updates to payment policies and rates for renal dialysis services furnished to beneficiaries. The 2021 proposed rule also proposes to update the acute kidney injury (AKI) dialysis payment rate for renal dialysis services furnished by ESRD facilities to individuals with AKI, and proposes changes to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program. In addition to the annual technical updates, the 2021 rule proposes, at a high level:

  • Changes to the eligibility criteria and determination process for the transitional add-on payment adjustment for new and innovative equipment and supplies (TPNIES), and defining “new” to be within three years, beginning on the date of the FDA marketing authorization;
  • Expansion of the TPNIES to include new and innovative capital-related assets that are home dialysis machines, used in the home for a single patient;
  • Updates to the outlier policy and outlier services fixed-dollar loss amounts as well as the Medicare allowable payment amounts;
  • An addition to the ESRD PPS base rate to include calcimimetics in the ESRD PPS bundled payment;
  • A change to the low-volume payment adjustment eligibility criteria and attestation requirement to account for the COVID-19 public health emergency; and
  • An update to the ESRD PPS wage index to adopt the new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineations with a transition period.

Continue Reading CMS Proposes 2021 End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System Rule

On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2020 (the April 30 Interim Rule) building on previous regulatory waivers and other revisions to regulations issued March 31, 2020 in an interim final rule (March 31 Interim Rule) in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Among other changes, the April 30 Interim Rule further broadens access to patient care provided via telehealth and other communication technology-based services and increases reimbursement for some of these services. Highlights of these changes and pertinent background are provided below.
Continue Reading CMS Broadens Telehealth Access Across the Board, Including Audio-Only Telephone Services

On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period (the “Rule”) which sets forth additional regulatory waivers and other changes to healthcare regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today’s actions are informed by requests from healthcare providers as well as by the Coronavirus…