Home Health & Hospice Week

The staffing shortage that home care agencies have been wrestling with for months is getting more attention now that there are COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare staff.

Even before the pandemic, “there’s just been this mass exodus of staffing,” John Hunt, owner and operator of Caring Hearts of Rochester in New York, told WROC TV. “There’s just nobody to care for people,” Hunt said. Caring Hearts often has to turn down potential clients due to staffing shortages, WROC reports.

Meanwhile, Medicare is geared up for COVID-19 booster shots. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is reminding eligible consumers that coverage is available under Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and in the commercial health insurance market for this critical protection from the virus, including booster shots from all three manufacturers, without cost sharing,” it says in a new message. “Beneficiaries with Medicare pay nothing for COVID-19 vaccines or their administration, and there is no applicable copayment, coinsurance or deductible,” CMS reiterates.

Providers can see the most current vaccination and booster billing codes, payment rates, effective dates, and more at www.cms.gov/covidvax-provider.