COVID-19 Updates & Alerts 08/03/20

As we mentioned in our recent COVID-19 webinar there are several items that warrant close attention as to how they are progressing. Here are a few of the latest updates you will want to follow along including links to resources that provide further information. Please note a couple of these deadlines occur this week.

Public Health Emergency Extension: The department of Health and Human Services last week officially renewed the public health emergency (PHE) on July 23. This means the PHE is effective for 90 days unless it is declared over by the Secretary or renewed before it expires.  This renewal now lasts until Oct. 21, 2020. This means great news for telehealth expansion coverage tied to the PHE. Those key items that fall under this extension include:

• Removal of geographic and facility site limitations in Medicare
• Additional providers allowed to bill Medicare for telehealth delivered services, including federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics
• Allowance to utilize audio-only phone for some services and receive reimbursement through Medicare
• Allowance to use live video to prescribe controlled substances without an in-person exam or falling under a list of narrow exceptions
• HIPAA regulatory relief relating to violations for use of non-approved remote communication technologies

For a more complete summary of temporary COVID-19 federal telehealth policies and when they expire, see CCHP’s Federal COVID-19 Emergency Action Chart. Be sure to follow your state legislation related to local telehealth policies and any pending expiration's. A great resource to keep handy is the Center for Connected Health Policy State Action webpage.

Additionally, the PHE extension impacts your organization employee benefit programs. Be sure to contact your benefit administrators or plan carriers if you are not certain how this extension impact your organization. Federal Register Notice.

• COBRA plan management; notices, premium payment timelines.
• Your employee’s timelines to make changes to their enrollments due to special life events,

Provider Relief Fund Reporting Requirements: On July 20, 2020 HHS released a notice regarding post payment reporting requirements for recipients of Provider Relief Funds.  This covers groups that received both General and Targeted Distributions. If you received greater than $10,000 in aggregate, you will be required to submit expense reporting via the portal. The language states all expenditures through December 31, 2020 will need to be reported. The reporting portal will become available on October 1, 2020.  The report filing timeline is by February 15, 2021. Be sure to download the Reporting Requirement Guidelines.  HHS will release the detailed reporting specifications by August 17, 2020.

Reminder for State Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) and Dentists: Those of you who haven’t previously received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund should be looking at the state Medicaid relief fund opportunity. The deadline is August 3, 2020. Interested Providers must report through an enhanced portal.

Extended Paycheck Protection Loan Application Cycle is Closing Soon: If you have not yet applied for a PPP Loan the extended application deadline is August 8, 2020.

PPP Loan Forgiveness Deadlines and Updates: The PPP Forgiveness Platform will go live and begin accepting Lender submissions on August 10, 2020, subject to extension if any new legislative amendments to the forgiveness process necessitate changes to the system.  Many lenders are still advising loan recipients to hold their forgiveness applications anticipating further changes or the lending institutions internal challenges in processing them at this time. Stay in touch with your lenders and be sure to follow the news updates. Congress is currently entertaining a second round of PPP Loan funding in the stimulus package currently being debated. Based on our research, more specific details about the first PPP Loan reporting requirements may be impacted by this legislation.