On January 13, 2022, in response to numerous legal challenges premised on the lack or abuse of executive authority.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule (IFR) on November 4, 2021, the same day the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The IFR and ETS complement each other, with both aimed at furthering the Biden Administration’s goal of vaccinating the entire United States healthcare workforce to ensure capacity to serve local and national healthcare needs, the safety of the workforce and patients, and to reduce the risk of continued COVID-19 transmission. Both rules are effective November 5, 2021.
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In a recent conversation with the tech news website Lifewire, Tommy Miller shared his take on whether smartwatches like the Apple watch could replace COVID testing in the near future.
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Nixon Law Group’s Managing Partner, Carrie Nixon, was quoted in an article appearing in Internet of Things World Today discussing the future of telehealth.
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Nixon Law Group’s Managing Partner, Carrie Nixon, was quoted in an op-ed for The Hill discussing 5 actions to fuel the digital health momentum. "The COVID-19 public health emergency has forcefully opened the door for widespread adoption of telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other digital health platforms by patients and providers alike."
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Nixon Law Group’s Managing Partner, Carrie Nixon, was quoted in an article appearing in Modern Healthcare discussing the Senate HELP Committee hearing on telehealth that took place on June 17, 2020. The article notes general consensus among Committee members on two areas set forth as priorities by the Committee’s Chair, including 1) making permanent the elimination of the originating site and geographic restrictions for Medicare reimbursement of telehealth visits; and 2) maintaining and potentially expanding the list of services that may be provided by telehealth under Medicare, along with the list of types of healthcare providers eligible to provide these services to Medicare beneficiaries.
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Experts Weigh in on Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Rules and Policies. Nixon Law Group’s Managing Partner, Carrie Nixon, was quoted extensively in an article appearing in mHealth Intelligence regarding her views on post-COVID-19 telehealth rules and policies.
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Nixon Law Group’s Partner, Rebecca Gwilt, was quoted extensively in an article appearing in Home Health Care News regarding her views on the legal case for home health telehealth reimbursement.
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Join us as Tommy Miller, Sr. Counsel and Life Science Lead at Nixon Law Group, speaks with industry experts, John Lazo and Nikki Hastings, about how the global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted pharmaceutical drug development. The panel will discuss how innovators are responding to the pandemic through new tests, devices and therapeutics and how the drug development ecosystem can implement "lessons learned" to help us better prepare for the future of drug discovery.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has issued a second Interim Final Rule (“IFR2”) that includes additional expansions and clarifications relating to the provision and reimbursement of telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and telephone services during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (“PHE”). While these expansions are another step forward for the adoption of digital technologies and services in healthcare, there are additional changes needed in the near-term, as detailed in the summary below.
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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) passed by Congress on March 27, 2020 opened the door for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) to increase healthcare access to patients in rural and underserved areas by reimbursing for telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries during the public health emergency (PHE). In addition, CMS has issued non-legislative policy changes and flexibility to address the increased need for remote services for Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas of the country.
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Medical providers across the spectrum have endured a significant hit to revenues as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). MGMA’s recent report, “COVID-19 Financial Impoact on Medical Practices”, indicates that nearly 100% of providers have seen a negative revenue impact, with an average decrease in revenue of 55%. To offset some of those losses, the CARES Act allocated a $50 billion “general allocation” to support the sustainability of these providers.
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The burden on the staff and residents of long-term care facilities, including nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities, has increased significantly around the country. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in response to feedback from industry stakeholders, and under new 1135 waiver authorities granted to it in the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, implemented several policy changes to support long term care facilities, including changes enabling practitioners to remotely provide services to these facilities and to remotely supervise on-site providers.
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‘We'll likely need a legislative change for these changes to be permanent,’ said Nixon. ‘There will be more of an impetus now. Once patients have had telehealth, it's likely they won't want to go back.’”
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Join us for a webinar to explain the most recent regulatory and reimbursement changes around the Remote Patient Monitoring, Telehealth, e-Visit, and Virtual Check-in CPT codes, during COVID-19, and what those changes mean from a practical perspective.
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In response to urgent requests from healthcare providers and digital health services companies, CMS released an Interim Final Rule with comment period (the “Rule”) on March 30, 2020 that eases restrictions around the use of telehealth and other virtual communications technologies to aide response to the COVID-19 public health crisis. The Rule adds reimbursement for over 80 additional services that can now be furnished by telehealth, removes the requirement that Medicare patients have a previously established relationship with the provider billing for telehealth or remote communications services, and allows the “face-to-face” encounters required to initiate some services to be conducted via telehealth.
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When the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020 was signed into law on March 6th, a provision in the Act that waives the geographic and originating site restrictions on telehealth services for the elderly garnered less attention, but could have a very important role to play in combatting COVID-19 - particularly if the waiver authority is further expanded by Congress. Learn more about the emergency telehealth waivers.
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