Following the declaration of a national emergency arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a series of blanket waivers for certain providers and suppliers enrolled under Medicare and/or Medicaid.

Among these waivers are:

• Waiver of the requirement for a 3-day prior hospitalization for Medicare coverage of a skilled nursing facility (SNF) stay.
• Renewal of Medicare SNF coverage for certain beneficiaries who have exhausted their coverage.
• Allowing acute care hospitals to house acute care inpatients in otherwise excluded distinct part units of the hospital.
• Waiver of certain durable medical equipment supplier requirements where necessary to replace durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies.
• Waiving certain state licensure requirements to permit out-of-state providers to provide services in another state.
• Waiver of certain requirements, and extension of timelines, relating to Medicare appeals.
• Allowing states to request waivers of their own specific Medicaid and/or Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements to better allow providers and suppliers to address the pandemic.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced that these waivers will be retroactive effective March 1, 2020. 

In addition, CMS announced that it would temporarily suspend all non-emergency survey inspections, in order to allow providers to focus on the more pressing health and safety threats.

Let us know if you have questions about these waivers or how they may apply to your organization.