Major CMS Waivers and Regulatory Changes During COVID-19 Pandemic

Yesterday, CMS announced an unprecedented level of Blanket Waivers and Regulatory changes to allow healthcare organizations to better deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.  Many states had requested these waivers and been granted them, but now it applies to any state.  AHIP has said that payers will follow suit in overwhelmed areas.  AHIP has collated many of the payer’s response to COVID-19.

The biggest news amidst all the changes is true payment parity for teleahealth (see page 15 of the IFC for the specific details – Thanks Travis Broome).  If the telehealth visit is replacing an in-person visit, then CMS will pay the same as they would for an in-person visit.  This is going to have the biggest impact on revenue for healthcare organizations and is a good change that I hope will last far past COVID-19.  Not to mention we need commercial payors to adopt it as well.