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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently took several steps to further expand the availability of Medicare telehealth services during the coronavirus emergency. Last week, the agency announced several temporary policy changes, and released an updated version of its coronavirus-related blanket waiver guidance that reflects these developments. According to CMS, the revisions are intended to “increase access to telehealth for Medicare patients so they can get care from their physicians and other clinicians while staying safely at home.” Notably, these flexibilities are in addition to those previously made by Congress and CMS, including via the CARES Act and the federal rulemaking process. Below is a summary of key changes.

On April 6, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—the agency that oversees the Medicare program—published an interim final rule (IFR) with comment period, Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The IFR reinterprets and clarifies several Medicare rules and policies for the duration of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) emergency period, often to increase access to telehealth services. The rule is retroactive to March 1, and comments on the rule are due June 1.

On March 10, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance around the requirements and flexibilities Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, Part D plans, and certain Medicare-Medicaid plans have to help provide health care coverage to people with Medicare for coronavirus testing, treatments, and prevention. The guidance identifies what plan sponsors must do during a disaster or emergency as declared by their states, and also what the plans are permitted to do. Since the issuance of the guidance, some of the optional flexibilities have become mandatory due to passage of federal legislation.

Medicare generally only covers telehealth in limited situations and for certain beneficiaries. However, recent legislation allows the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to temporarily expand telehealth coverage and access, in part by waiving some of Medicare’s rules, such as originating site and geographic restrictions, during the coronavirus public health emergency. On March 17, HHS released guidance, including a fact sheet and FAQs, implementing this policy and appropriately applying it to all Medicare-approved telehealth services.

This month, the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) released an issue brief explaining the importance of the public comment process, how to submit comments, and how comments impact the implementation of federal policies.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced a proposal designed to increase hospital price transparency. Under the draft rule, hospitals would be required

This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments in Texas v. U.S., the latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act

A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—the government agency charged with enforcing federal consumer financial laws—sheds light on the widespread problem of elder financial abuse.

Studies show that financial exploitation is the most common form of elder abuse. Perpetrators can include a wide variety of people ranging from close family members to offshore scammers, and estimates of annual losses to older adults have ranged from $2.9 billion to $36.5 billion.