Diving Into COVID-19 Regulatory Changes
The HME industry has witnessed a number of
federal and state regulatory changes, as well as a
number of private payer guidelines, to help HME
providers safely serve homecare patients during
the COVID-19 public health emergency. Moreover,
some of the changes have been significant and
could change the HME industry’s future.
To help providers get a clearer sense of these changes,
Kim Brummett, vice president of Regulatory Affairs for
the American Association for Homecare, and Laura
Williard, AAHomecare’s vice president of Payer Relations,
joined HME Business to take a deep dive into the various
regulatory changes, relaxed funding requirements, new
telehealth guidelines, and the pause on audits, and
changes on the state and commercial payer side.
This Viewpoint will provide the answers to:
- What are the top federal regulatory policies or policy relaxations or guidelines that providers need to know about that have been enacted because of COVID-19?
- Are there any audit policies that have been suspended?
- If CMS suspends a certain documentation policy during this public health emergency, is there a worry that they will go back
retroactively?
- Are federal policies trickling down to the state level?
- Will major payers ease back?
- What do providers need to help protect the industry’s reputation?
- What will telehealth policies look like after the COVID-19 PHE has passed?
- How must HME providers prepare for that future?