Situation Report | January 4, 2021
At the end of December, HCA submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on a Request for Information (RFI) about regulatory flexibility granted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, HHS sought feedback on which Medicare home health and hospice provisions should be continued only during the pandemic and which changes should be made permanent.
HCA also suggested other relief measures that were not put in place.
Our comments covered: the use of telecommunications technology for home health and hospice; homebound status for home health; reimbursement for visits conducted via telecommunication; the timeframe for OASIS reporting and hospice assessments; home health aide and hospice aide supervision; the annual in-service training requirement for home health aides and hospice aides; the face-to-face encounter for home health and hospice; reimbursement for services based on verbal orders; hospice aide competency testing, non-core services, and the use of volunteers; and more.