COVID-19 UPDATE #260

September 8, 2022

CMS is hosting a virtual listening session with health care providers and suppliers on emergency preparedness on Tuesday, September 13, at 10 AM PST. Space is limited, so registration should be limited to those who plan to provide input and the number of registrants per organization should be limited.

CMS is looking to gather information from health care providers and suppliers on their experiences providing support during public health emergencies (PHE) outside of the COVID-19 PHE. The input and lessons learned from this session will be used to evaluate CMS regulations regarding emergency preparedness for certain health care providers.

Prior to the call, attendees are encouraged to review the following rules as background:

• Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers
• Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Regulatory Provisions To Promote Program Efficiency, Transparency, and Burden Reduction; Fire Safety Requirements for Certain Dialysis Facilities; Hospital and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Changes To Promote Innovation, Flexibility, and Improvement in Patient Care

HOW TO JOIN: Please register HERE with your name, email, zip code, state, and organization name and type. Due to an overwhelming interest in this session, CMS has increased capacity to 450 registrants; however, registration will be closed once this number is reached.  CMS encourages registration as soon as possible and asks that registrants be limited to each organization's leadership and/or subject matter experts who are knowledgeable and willing to provide feedback on the topics to be discussed.

CMS released QSO-22-15-NH & NLTC & LSC outlining how state agencies and facilities can request a waiver for training and certification of nurse aides (to retain Temporary Nurse Aides) past the October 7 deadline, when there are backlogs in training/testing. The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has created a one-page document to help facilities navigate the process to request a waiver at the individual facility level. 

The State of Washington (DSHS in conjunction with the Department of Health) has submitted a statewide waiver request. We are awaiting CMS review and decision-making for the state waiver. In the meantime, as October 6 is quickly approaching, all SNF NARs that have completed training should be tested as soon as possible. More information on the DOH Mass Testing program across the state can be found here.