Employment Law Report

In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published numerous 1135 blanket waivers (available here) to help counteract the strains and limitations placed on healthcare providers caused by the virus. On July 24, 2020, the American Health Lawyers Association published a detailed article considering the complexities of continued or amended waivers in: (1) the expansion of telehealth services; (2) the three-day hospital stay requirement for skilled nursing facility (SNF) coverage; (3) hospitals’ ability to provide SNF care; (4) hospitals’ ability to provide care at different locations; (5) waivers to certain supervision requirements; (6) delegation of duties in long-term care facilities; (7) patient access to records in long-term care facilities and home health agencies; (8) use of focus surveys in long-term care; and (9) other blanket waivers. Considerations regarding access to care, standards of care, and fraud and abuse risks will be forefront to CMS’s and lawmakers’ approaches as they look at long-term changes.