Home Health & Hospice Week

Plus: Waiver in effect for Irma, with more expected.

Medicare continues to work on Harvey relief measures, including some that will benefit home health agencies in the hard-hit area.

In addition to the blanket OASIS waiver announced earlier, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says on its hurricane webpage that it “is granting exceptions under certain Medicare quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs without having to submit an extraordinary circumstances exception request if they are located in one of the Texas counties or Louisiana parishes, all of which have been designated by the as a major disaster county.” The exceptions apply to home health agencies and hospices, among other providers, CMS says in an email message to providers.

“The scope and duration of the exception under each Medicare quality reporting program is described in the memo posted on 8-31-17, however, all of the exceptions are being granted to assist these providers while they direct their resources toward caring for their patients and repairing structural damages to facilities,” CMS says in the message.

Stay tuned: “If FEMA expands the current disaster declaration for Hurricane Harvey to include additional counties or parishes, CMS will update this memo to expand the list of providers eligible to receive an exception without submitting a request,” the agency continues. “In addition, CMS will continue to monitor the situation and adjust exempted reporting periods and submission deadlines accordingly.” And in addition to the ambulance moratorium lift, the agency has loosened some restrictions on acute care facilities, among other measures.

Looming: At press time, CMS was already addressing Hurricane Irma. President Trump declared a state of emergency and HHS Secretary Tom Price a Public Health Emergency for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, “which allows for CMS programmatic waivers based on Section 1135 of the Social Security Act.” The Public Health Declaration and waiver for those areas are effective as of noon on Sept. 7, CMS said on its hurricane webpage. More developments were expected as Irma churned toward the continental U.S.

Note: See more details in new MLN Matters articles on Harvey at www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE17020.pdf and www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/Downloads/SE17021.pdf, and on CMS’s hurricane webpage at www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/Emergency/Hurricanes.html.