Key points: 

-The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services posted a letter to America’s clinicians today outlining the federal actions that have taken place to help them defeat the novel coronavirus.

-These actions—which build on Congressional legislation—will help doctors focus on what is most important: the patient’s health.

Details: 

The letter outlines ways the Trump Administration has expeditiously acted to implement new relief laws, cut red tape and help providers. These include, but are not limited to:

• Accelerated and advanced payments so doctors and hospitals can receive funds quickly. CMS has delivered near $34 billion in the past week to the healthcare providers on the frontlines through the expansion of the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program.
• New billing codes to help track testing – as a reminder, testing is free for all patients.
• Increasing doctors’ ability to utilize telehealth to reach patients in their homes via FaceTime or Skype and even just on the phone, in certain circumstances.
• Allowing for virtual check-ins so patients don’t have to return to the hospital, allowing for smoother allocation of beds and medical supplies.
• Temporarily waiving Medicare and Medicaid’s requirements that physicians be licensed in the state where they are providing services in order to contribute relief efforts.
• Extending submission deadlines to give doctors more time to focus on delivering care.
• Issuing up to date clinical guidance and other resources to spread best practice and other information critical to helping doctors in these unique circumstances.

CLICK HERE to learn more from CMS about how these programs work.

Want to read more on the fight against Coronavirus? Read our Coronavirus Bulletin here which contains our extensive FAQ about recent federal actions.