Health Law Monitor

Healthcare Debtors Receive Court Relief (For Now) from the SBA’s Rule against Debtors Receiving PPP Loans—Some Lawmakers Want Permanent Relief

May 7, 2020

While many ICUs in various parts of the country have been overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, many healthcare providers have suffered significant financial losses due to non-emergent visits and elective procedures being put on hold while states prepared for their respective peaks for COVID-19 cases. Several healthcare providers, including large hospital systems, have filed for bankruptcy in the…

Play it Again Sam—CMS Issues Round Two of Telehealth Changes

May 4, 2020

CMS has issued more telehealth regulatory flexibilities in light of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), including new blanket waivers,¹ guidance for rural health clinics (RHCs) and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) under the CARES Act, and a new interim final rule issued April 30, 2020 (IFC).² 

Additions to List of Eligible Providers

For the remainder of the PHE, physical…

COVID-19 Tort Reform: Senate Majority Leader McConnell pushes for liability protection for businesses and hospitals

May 1, 2020

Now that parts of society are planning to begin the first phase of reopening, policy makers are considering what legal and regulatory obstacles businesses and healthcare providers might face. On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said a “condition” for the next coronavirus bill must include liability protections for businesses and hospitals.¹ 

“My red line going forward on this…

CARES Act Update: HHS Announces Details of $70 Billion Infusion into Health Care System

April 23, 2020

On April 22, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced how it will allocate a large portion of the remaining $70 billion of funding established by Title III of the CARES Act (the “Provider Relief Fund”) to certain health care providers impacted by COVID-19. As addressed in a prior Jackson Kelly Health Law Monitor article, HHS announced on April 9, 2020 that it would…

Health Care Provider Liability Exposure in the Age of COVID-19

April 22, 2020

Our nation’s health care providers have resoundingly answered the call for extraordinary responses to the extraordinary demands of COVID-19 public health crisis. Many providers show up to work to meet the unique demands of COVID-19 patients, but for others, the pandemic radically altered normal practices through deferral of certain treatments and procedures, replacement of office visits with…

COVID-19 Update: Providers participating in COVID-19 clinical trials now eligible for MIPS credit

April 21, 2020

A recent announcement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides that clinicians in the Quality Payment Program (QPP) are eligible to earn Merit-based Incentive Program System (MIPS) credit for participating in the “MIPS COVID-19 Clinical Trials” improvement activity. To receive credit for this new measure, clinicians must attest that they are participating in a COVID-19…

CMS Issues Recommendation to Re-Open Health Care Systems with Low Incidence of COVID-19

April 20, 2020

A decline in COVID-19 cases and stabilization has prompted conversation regarding Phase 1 in the Whitehouse’s Guidelines for Opening Up America. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidelines for gradually re-opening health care systems to provide essential non-COVID-19 care to patients in those areas with low, or relatively low and stable incidence of COVID-19. The…

Considerations for Physicians Asked to Practice Outside Their Normal Scope of Practice

April 13, 2020

To alleviate pressure on healthcare systems and hospitals caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, physicians may be asked – or may volunteer – to work outside their usual scope of practice and/or in unfamiliar surroundings to treat patients. Before a physician agrees to work outside his/her normal scope of practice to care for Coronavirus patients, several considerations are important. These include…

CARES Act Update: HHS Announces Immediate Infusion of $30 Billion  into Health Care System

April 10, 2020

At the April 7, 2020 COVID-19 Task Force Briefing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Administrator, Seema Verma, announced that the first $30 billion of the Title III CARES Act funding will be distributed to Medicare providers by the end of this week. On April 9, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued more details about the distribution of and conditions…

OCR Enforcement Discretion for Good-Faith Operation of Community Based Testing

April 10, 2020

Effective immediately, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced its decision to exercise its enforcement discretion in how it applies the Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules under the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).¹ No enforcement actions will be sought against covered health care providers or their business associates…

Return to Work Guidelines for Virus-Exposed Critical Workers Who Lack Symptoms

April 9, 2020

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its guidance for critical infrastructure workers allowing those exposed to COVID-19 to return to work as long as they remain asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented. Previous guidance was that exposed individuals should self-quarantine for 14 days. Below is a summary of the CDC’s new guidance:

Additional Precautions: The…

HRSA-Funded Health Centers Awarded 1.3 Billion Dollars

April 8, 2020

The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded more than $1.3 billion to 1,387 HRSA funded health centers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “HRSA-funded health centers are part of the backbone of our nation’s health care system, serving 1 in 12 people nationwide,” stated Tom Engels, HRSA Administrator. This much…