The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, August 30.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Temporary Suspension of COVID-19 Data Reporting Requirements for Some Hospitals

• The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has announced that federal hospital COVID-19 reporting requirements for the entire state of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi have been suspended for seven days in response to Hurricane Ida.  While hospitals in the affected areas may still report their data if they wish they are not required to do so and reporting for this period is not expected to be back-filled.  The office will continue to monitor the storm’s impact and this suspension could be extended or expanded to additional areas depending on conditions in the region.

Department of Health and Human Services

• HHS has declared a state of public emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi because of the effects of Hurricane Ida.  See the HHS announcement for more about what this means.
• HHS has issued guidance with essential information for states as they navigate the options available to advance COVID-19 vaccination and

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 26.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Provider Relief Fund

• HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has revamped its Provider Relief Fund web site.  See the new site here.
• During a Provider Relief Fund stakeholder webinar today, HRSA highlighted three new fact sheets to assist providers in meeting the September 30, 2021 reporting deadline for Provider Relief Fund money received from April 2020 through June 2020:
  • Provider Relief Fund resource guide
  • guide to using funds for recruitment and retention
  • guide to reporting lost revenues

The White House

• The White House has posted a transcript of the August 24 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials.  Find the slides presented during the press briefing here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

COVID-19

• Health care providers can now receive additional payments from Medicare for administering vaccines to multiple residents in one home setting or a communal home setting.  Previously, CMS increased Medicare payments for vaccines administered in the home, and now, under this new policy, vaccine providers can

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 19.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

The White House

• The White House has issued a fact sheet highlighting the latest administration actions to address COVID-19.  Those actions include its plan to begin offering COVID-19 booster vaccines starting the week of September 20; a soon-to-be-published regulation requiring workers in long-term-care facilities to be vaccinated (described below); a directive to the Secretary of Education to use all available tools to ensure that governors and other officials are providing a safe return to in-person learning for children; and the extension of federal reimbursement for 100 percent of selected COVID-19 response costs incurred by states, including COVID-19-related National Guard deployments, through the end of the calendar year.
• The White House has posted a transcript of the August 18 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials.  Find the slides presented during the press briefing here.

Provider Relief Fund

• HHS has updated the reporting requirements and auditing and data pages on its Provider Relief Fund web page.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 1:30 p.m. on Friday, August 13.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Food and Drug Administration

COVID-19

• The FDA has amended the emergency use authorizations for both the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to authorize administering an additional dose of those vaccines to certain immunocompromised individuals, including solid organ transplant recipients and those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise.
• The FDA has revised its emergency use authorization for the monoclonal antibody REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab, administered together) to add an authorization of REGEN-COV for emergency use as post-exposure prophylaxis (prevention) for COVID-19 in adults and pediatric individuals (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms) who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.  Learn more here.

The White House

• The White House has posted a transcript of the August 12 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. View press briefing slides here.
• The White House announced a series of COVID-19-related initiatives, including:

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, August 5.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Final Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System Regulation for FY 2022

CMS has published its final Medicare inpatient prospective payment system regulation for FY 2022.  Highlights include:

• An increase in hospital inpatient rates of 2.5 percent and an increase in long-term hospital rates averaging 0.9 percent.
• The Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) payments uncompensated care allocation has been cut $1.1 billion, to $7.2 billion, with distribution to be based on hospitals’ FY 2018 Medicare cost reports.
• A reduction of the labor-related share of Medicare payments from 68.3 percent to 67.6 percent.
• Repeal of the requirement that hospitals report median payer-specific negotiated charges with Medicare Advantage plans on their Medicare cost reports.
• Extension of the COVID-19 treatment add-on payment through the end of the fiscal year in which the public health emergency ends.
• A new requirement that hospitals include in their Medicare quality program reporting information about the vaccination status of their staffs.

CMS noted that this regulation is not comprehensive and that it will issue an additional regulation or …