HCA has written comments in support of an April 3, 2017 proposed rule that would extend the deadline for implementation of the new home health conditions of participation (CoPs).
HCA was among the first associations to formally call for a delay in the new CoPs, which are slated for a July 13 start date. Notably, we gained strong support from New York Congressional Rep. John Faso who wrote to CMS calling for a six-month delay. Within days of Rep. Faso’s letter, CMS issued the April 3 proposed rule to implement the delay, triggering a public comment period to gain stakeholder responses about whether to suspend implementation until January 13, 2018.
The new CoPs are the most sweeping changes to federal home health regulations in 20 years, and HCA has recently held education programs to prepare providers for the rules, which touch on virtually all aspects of an agency’s operations. In seeking a delay, HCA and others stressed the incredibly short timeframe for providers to prepare and the fact that CMS, still, has yet to circulate Interpretive Guidelines that would further outline the enforcement process for these new regulations.
Read our letter of support here: https://hca-nys.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Medicare-CoPs-proposed-rule-delay_comments_final_051117.pdf.