Tagged: waivers

COVID-19 and EMTALA: Ongoing Requirements and New Waivers

On March 9, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Quality, Safety and Oversight Group (“QSO”) issued a memorandum, QSO-20-15, providing guidance to health care providers related to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (“EMTALA”) implications regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. EMTALA is a Federal law that requires all Medicare-participating hospitals (including critical...

Medicare Telehealth Payment Expanded to Help Address the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

On March 17, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) each issued policy statements which expand access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries and permit physicians and other practitioners to reduce or waive beneficiary cost-sharing obligations for Medicare telehealth...

New HIPAA Waivers for Health Care Providers During the COVID-19 Emergency

This post provides an update on a number of HIPAA waivers that have just been made available to health care providers: (1) Waivers for hospitals in the initial 72 hours of enacting a disaster protocol; and (2) Waivers for all health care providers to allow them to use “everyday communications technologies, such as FaceTime or...