Waivers for certain Medicare regulations are effective Oct. 26 for New Jersey and Oct. 27 for New York due to Hurricane Sandy, the Cen-ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirms in a new MLN Matters article. "Use of the 'DR' condition code and the 'CR' modifier are mandatory on claims for items and services for which Medi-care payment is conditioned on the presence of a formal waiver," CMS reminds in article # SE1247. For home health agencies in affected areas, CMS provides blanket waivers for OASIS transmission timeframes and two-week aide supervision requirements by an RN, the agency says. Hospices also receive a blanket waiver from aide supervision requirements. Contractors can, at their discretion, provide a beneficiary's HICN for billing purposes during a public health emergency, CMS adds. More information is online at www.cms.gov/Emergency.