The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two welcome announcements on October 22 relating to the CARES Act Relief Fund Provider Relief Fund (PRF). First, the agency expanded the pool of eligible recipients to “include provider applicants such as residential treatment facilities, chiropractors, and eye and vision providers that have not yet received Provider Relief Fund distributions.”
Health Law Scan
Legal Insights and Perspectives for the Healthcare Industry
Our FDA team recently posted a LawFlash about the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) August 19 announcement, Rescission of Guidances and Other Informal Issuances Concerning Premarket Review of Laboratory Developed Tests, in which it stated that the FDA would not require premarket review of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) without notice-and-comment rulemaking. The announcement has implications not only for LDTs intended for SARS-CoV-2 testing, but also for LDTs intended for other purposes, such as pharmacogenetic testing and direct-to-consumer testing.
As reported in As Prescribed, US President Donald Trump signed four executive orders implementing policies on drug pricing on July 24.
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.
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.
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.
Congressional stimulus packages appropriated $175 billion in relief funds under the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Acts for the benefit of hospitals and other healthcare providers in response to losses incurred due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
With just days left until provider attestations are due related to acceptance of CARES Act Provider Relief Funds, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently been updating its FAQs, providing some additional clarity, and potentially confusion, surrounding the acceptance of Relief Funds from its initial tranche $30 billion of General Distribution payments. Attestations for the first tranche of payments on April 10 are due May 25, and HHS continues to furnish guidance regarding the details of the General Distribution Relief Fund.
As we noted in our previous Health Law Scan blog CMS Issues Program Instructions for Medicare Telehealth Waiver, CMS issued program instructions on March 17 to implement the Medicare telehealth waiver in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Healthcare industry lawyers Eric Knickrehm and Jake Harper recently authored a LawFlash analyzing medical licensure waivers issued in connection with the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency that permit healthcare professionals to receive federal healthcare program reimbursement for telehealth services in states where they do not hold a license.