Health Law Advisor

In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast:  In conjunction with the national COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other federal agencies have issued waivers and other declarations with the goal of giving providers flexibility in order to render services during the PHE. 

How should stakeholders prepare for the end of the PHE on May 11, 2023?

In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast:  Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, some states have banned abortion in all or most circumstances and many more have enacted new restrictions or enforced old ones.

Announced in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs) will be a new type of Medicare provider starting January 1, 2023.  REHs are meant to help address the stressed health care system of rural providers by providing an option to closure for distressed critical access hospitals (CAHs) and small rural hospitals.

Existing CAHs and rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds will be eligible to convert to an REH.  CMS is streamlining this process so that this conversion to be an REH can be accomplished through a change of information on an existing Medicare 855A enrollment rather than through a new provider application, which carries potentially significant delays and potential gaps in payment.  REHs are designed to provide primarily emergency department, observation, and outpatient services.  Because REHs will not provide inpatient care, an area that often creates a significant financial and operational burden on CAHs and small rural hospitals, REHs will allow locally-delivered healthcare to continue to be furnished by existing providers.

New from the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast:  One of the long-term goals of the interoperability and information-blocking rules is to give health care providers a much more comprehensive view of a patient’s entire continuum of care.