US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on August 3 that aims to expand telehealth access to Medicare beneficiaries beyond the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE) period. The executive order focuses on rural healthcare providers in particular, noting the difficulties patients in rural areas face in obtaining accessible, high-quality healthcare services over the years.
Health Law Scan
Legal Insights and Perspectives for the Healthcare Industry
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances within the healthcare industry that may provoke further crisis for hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, and other frontline healthcare providers in the form of potential liability claims for noncompliance with COVID-19 protocols or other standards.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought a dramatic shift from in-person healthcare visits to telehealth services around the world, unveiling a new normal for providing healthcare services.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it intends to resume both prepayment and postpayment medical reviews conducted by the Medicare Administrative Contractors, Supplemental Medical Review Contractors, and Recovery Audit Contractors, including those under the Targeted Probe and Educate program, on August 3, 2020.
Healthcare is a highly regulated space, and regulators are continuing to issue new policies and regulations to address the critical needs for goods and services to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19), while also protecting the public health. Companies beyond just healthcare and life sciences should be aware of the relevant regulatory and legal requirements to avoid enforcement and liability requests.
Much to the relief of the healthcare provider community, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson Michael Caputo tweeted on Monday that HHS intended to extend the public health emergency that was declared earlier this year.