CMS Grants Disaster Exceptions/Exemptions for Medicare-Certified Providers Affected by Hurricane Harvey
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is granting exceptions under certain Medicare quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs without having to submit an extraordinary circumstances exception request if they are located in one of the Texas counties or Louisiana parishes that have been designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a major disaster county.
The scope and duration of the exception under each Medicare quality reporting program is described in a recent memo; however, all of the exceptions are being granted to assist these providers while they direct their resources toward caring for their patients and repairing structural damage to facilities.
If FEMA expands the current disaster declaration for Hurricane Harvey to include additional counties or parishes, CMS will update this memo to expand the list of providers eligible to receive an exception without submitting a request to include the hospitals, Prospective Payment System–exempt cancer hospitals, inpatient psychiatric facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term care hospitals, and ambulatory surgical centers located in the additional counties and parishes.
In addition, CMS will continue to monitor the situation and adjust exempted reporting periods and submission deadlines accordingly.
Emergency information for people with Medicare can be found here.
Additional details and materials are available on the CMS Web page for hurricane emergencies.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
