CMS Adds New COVID-19 Workforce Flexibility Waivers

On April 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) temporarily suspended a number of rules so that hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities can boost their frontline medical staffs during the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

These changes affect doctors, nurses, and other clinicians nationwide, and focus on reducing supervision and certification requirements so that practitioners can be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses. The new waivers sharply expand the workforce flexibilities CMS announced on March 30.

Access CMS fact sheet on detailing Blanket Waivers for Healthcare Providers (includes information on the new waivers and those announced previously).

Posted 4/10/2020

FDA Approves Braftovi in Combo with Cetuximab for mCRC with BRAF V600E Mutation

HHS Announces Upcoming Funding to Provide $186 Million for COVID-19 Response

• Supplement an existing cooperative agreement to a number of states and local  identified as having the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases (“hot zones”) and jurisdictions with accelerating or rapidly accelerating COVID-19 cases.

Novartis Announces New C-Code for Adakveo®, Effective April 1

Novartis has announced that, effective April 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a product-specific C-code, C9053 for 100 mg/10 mL (10 mg/mL) solution in a single-dose vial of ADAKVEO® (crizanlizumab-tmca) for IV infusion. The code can be reported in box 44 on the CMS-1450 (UB-04) claim form for the hospital outpatient department.

C-codes are used primarily to report services under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), but may also be recognized by other private and public payer types. Please check with each payer for specific requirements.

Important billing and coding information:

ADAKVEO is supplied as a 100 mg/10 mL (10 mg/mL) single dose vial. See below for coding details:

Please make sure to include C9053 on appropriate claims submission forms for ADAKVEO administered April 1 and later. If you have questions or need further clarification, please contact your Reimbursement Manager or ADAKVEO Support at PANO at 1-800-282-7630.

Posted 3/24/2020

FDA Approves Durvalumab for Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

CMS Expands Accelerated & Advance Payment Program for Medicare Providers & Suppliers

On March 28, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is expanding the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program for all Medicare providers throughout the country during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The payments can be requested by hospitals, doctors, durable medical equipment suppliers, and other Medicare Part A and Part B providers and suppliers.

To qualify for accelerated or advance payments, the provider or supplier must:

• Have billed Medicare for claims within 180 days immediately prior to the date of signature on the provider’s/ supplier’s request form,
• Not be in bankruptcy,
• Not be under active medical review or program integrity investigation, and
• Not have any outstanding delinquent Medicare overpayments.

Medicare will start accepting and processing the Accelerated/Advance Payment Requests immediately. CMS anticipates that the payments will be issued within seven days of the provider’s request. Access CMS fact sheet for more information.

Posted 3/29/2020

ASCO Announces Virtual Annual Meeting

CMS FAQs on Medicare Provider Enrollment Relief in Response to COVID-19

CMS Announces Exceptions & Extensions for Quality Reporting Requirements

CMS Posts Fact Sheet on Coverage for COVID-19 Tests

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be covering COVID-19 tests, and for those original Medicare there is generally no copay (deductible applies). CMS is also permitting Medicare Advantage plans to waive cost-sharing for these tests. 

CMS has posted a fact sheet to the agency's website to aid Medicare providers with information relating to the pricing of both the CDC and non-CDC COVID-19 tests. Read the fact sheet. 

Visit the CMS "Current Emergencies" webpage for updates on CMS' response to this COVID-19. 

Posted 3/13/2020