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| | Newsflash: CMS Issues Array of Waivers and Temporary Regs Impacting Hospitals, ASCs, and Others. |
| | Dear Friend,
CMS has released what they’ve described as "an unprecedented array of temporary regulatory waivers and new rules” to provide flexibility to respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Among the waivers is one addressing “Temporary Expansion Locations” or hospitals without walls.
This waiver permits hospitals to contract to use ASCs as an extension of the hospital – in other words, permitting cases that previously could only be performed in a hospital to be performed in an ASC. The hospital would bill and, pursuant to an arrangement negotiated with the ASC, pay the ASC.
The waiver also permits arrangements through which, for the duration of the crisis, ASCs may enroll with Medicare as a hospital and be paid as a hospital. This, too, expands the scope of procedures that can be performed at the facility.
Any such arrangements must be consistent with the location state’s pandemic plan.
These temporary rules provide relief to ASCs that have cut back on, or ceased, elective procedures.
Importantly, as a result, it provides a degree of relief to surgeons and anesthesia providers who will be engaged in performing those cases.
It behooves surgeons and anesthesia providers to be proactive in working with the ASCs with which they are associated to encourage the facilities to investigate whether they can and should pursue arrangements with hospitals or enroll directly with Medicare as a hospital.
Here's a link to the for CMS pronouncement: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/summary-covid-19-emergency-declaration-waivers.pdf
Contact me if you have any questions. |
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