CMS Issues Guidance on Covid-19 Vaccination Requirements for Most Medicare- and Medicaid-Certified Providers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Dec. 29 issued guidance regarding the Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding Covid-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare staff that the agency published in early November.
In the Dec, 29 memo, CMS specified that this guidance does not apply to the following states that are still subject to preliminary injunctions that federal courts issued to block implementation of the IFR in those states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
To learn more, please read the NABH Issue
Brief that NABH sent to members this week.
OSHA Withdraws Non-Recordkeeping Portions of Covid-19 Healthcare ETS
The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) last week said it is withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portion of the Covid-19 healthcare emergency temporary standard (ETS) that it adopted last June.
Separate from a Covid-19 vaccine mandate, the healthcare ETS required that employers provide personal protective equipment, physical barriers, and ventilation, and also require screening of each individual who enters the facility. The temporary standard also provided paid leave to workers who must quarantine due to infections or exposure.
“OSHA announces today that it intends to continue to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards and will do so as it also considers its broader infectious disease rulemaking,” OSHA’s
announcement said on Dec. 27. “However, given that OSHA anticipates a final rule cannot be completed in a timeframe approaching the one contemplated by the
OSH Act, OSHA also announces today that it is withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portions of the healthcare ETS.
HHS’ Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal for Reporting Period #2 Open Through March 31
HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting
Portal for Reporting Period 2 (RP2) opened on Jan. 1 and will remain open through March 31, 2022.
According to HRSA’s announcement, healthcare providers who received one or more general and/or targeted PRF payments exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, from July 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020 must report on their use of funds during RP2.
In addition, HRSA created a stakeholder
toolkit with content to share information about RP2 within organizations and networks. The agency has also developed the following resources for providers:
What’s New in Reporting Period 2 Fact Sheet, Lost Revenues Guide, and a
webpage for reporting on nursing home and infection control payments.
To learn more, register for either of HRSA’s upcoming webinars: one for
new reporting entities on Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. ET and one for
returning reporting entities on Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. ET.
SAMHSA Invests $282 Million to Implement 988 Behavioral Health Crisis Hotline
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced it has invested $282 million in
American Rescue Plan funding to help transition the current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to the 988 three-digit dialing code from its current 10-digit number.
Congress designated the new 988 dialing code in 2020 to operate through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The new code will be available national for calls, texts, and chats, beginning in July 2022.
According to SAMHSA, it has allotted $177 million to strengthen and expand the existing Lifeline network operations and infrastructure, including chat and text response, backup center capacity, and special services, such as a sub-network for Spanish language-speakers. The agency has invested $105 million to develop staffing across states’ local crisis call centers. SAMHSA is recruiting for a director for the crisis coordination office.
California’s Medicaid Program Receives CMS Approval to Implement Contingency Management
California Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, has received approval from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) to implement contingency management (CM) through a Section 1115 waiver.
Several insurance companies are financing CM, an evidence-based intervention for stimulant use disorders, and some states have engaged in pilot programs for the practice. CMS’ approval of the California CM pilot represents the first time the treatment intervention has been approved formally as a benefit in a Medicaid program.
While there is substantial research supporting the efficacy of CM, implementation has lagged for decades due to an Office of Inspector General opinion that raised concerns about fraud and abuse.
OSHA Publishes Workplace Violence Prevention Standard Fact Sheet
OSHA has announced it will convene a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) panel of small entity representatives early this year to help OSHA in its work to develop a potential
Prevention of Workplace Violence in Healthcare and Social Assistance standard.
In the meantime, OSHA has published a fact
sheet that describes who might be covered by a new workplace violence prevention standard, why OSHA is considering the standard, what the standard might include, what a small entity representative would do, and how small businesses and local government entities can participate.
NIMH to Host Webinar on School-based Suicide Prevention on Jan. 14
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will host a webinar next week about new practices in school-based suicide prevention for school administrators, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
The presentation will focus on identifying and supporting high-risk youth, as well as opportunities to evaluate these efforts.
NIMH will host the webinar next Friday, Jan. 14 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Click
here to register.
Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members
NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is available for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.
NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.
This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.
The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.
Please e-mail
Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.
Fact of the Week
A meta-analysis of 21 studies that analyzed interventions in prisons to address the needs of people with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorders generally showed decreases in substance use and lower odds of committing a substance use-related offense after reentry into the community for those who were in a treatment program compared with those who were not, according to
research published in
Psychiatric Services.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.