The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, August 7.

White House:  Executive Order

The White House issued an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to extend permanently some of the Medicare telehealth waivers initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency; to simplify Medicare billing codes and propose a payment model to improve health care in rural areas; and to encourage the Department of Agriculture and Federal Communications Commission to invest in technology that enhances access to telehealth services.

The administration’s plans for following through on this executive order are described in an HHS news release that summarizes the policy changes the administration seeks and a CMS news release that addresses several proposed regulations that would facilitate achieving these objectives.

Department of Health and Human Services

• HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response held a webinar in late July on the use of telemedicine in alternative care sites.  Now available from that webinar are the presentation around which that webinar was conducted and an FAQ about the use of telemedicine in alternative sites.
• The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness has created a new rural health information hub web page with current and key resources for rural health care systems preparing for and responding to a COVID-19 surge.  The page includes links to resources by audience and topic.
• HHS’s Office of the Inspector General has updated its guidance on the application of its administrative enforcement authorities to arrangements directly connected to the COVID-19 public health emergency with new guidance on the ability of clinical laboratories to offer free COVID-19 antibody testing to federal health care program beneficiaries who are contemporaneously receiving other medically necessary blood tests.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

• CMS has posted three-year average hourly wages used for 2022 Medicare area wage index reclassifications.  CMS usually publishes this data with its final inpatient prospective payment system regulation but is posting it separately this year.
• CMS has updated its FAQs about COVID-19 testing in skilled nursing facilities.
• CMS has posted a database detailing which nursing homes will receive point-of-care tests in its first wave of such shipments.

Food and Drug Administration

• The FDA has issued guidance on the use of drugs frequently used to treat COVID-19 patients when those drugs go beyond their labeled “in-use time” limits.
• The FDA has issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for a commercial device intended to provide temporary left ventricular support when treating critically ill COVID-19 patients who are undergoing ECMO treatment and suffer complications during that treatment.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a commercial device that is a patient interface intended for helmet-based non-invasive positive pressure ventilation used to treat acute respiratory distress symptoms among COVID-19 patients being treated in hospital intensive care units.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a commercial device that is a valve intended for use to deliver emergency, short term, constant-flow pressure-cycled ventilator support for COVID-19 with patients who weigh 10kg or more.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a commercial device that provides bi-level positive air pressure to support respiratory therapy of spontaneously breathing adults who weigh more than 30kg and who suffer from COVID-19.
• The FDA has issued a surgical masks umbrella EUA in response to concerns about insufficient supply and availability of disposable, single-use surgical masks.  Under this EUA, surgical masks that meet specific performance requirements are authorized for use in health care settings by health care personnel as personal protective equipment during surgical mask shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The FDA will host a virtual town hall for clinical laboratories and commercial manufacturers that are developing or have developed diagnostic tests for COVID-19.  The purpose of this town hall is to help answer technical questions about the development and validation of tests for COVID-19.  This event will be held on Wednesday, August 12 at 12:15 p.m. (eastern).  Go here for call-in information.  Similar town hall meetings will be held on August 19 and August 26.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• The CDC has updated its FAQs on COVID-19 clinical issues.
• The CDC has updated its guidance for shared and congregate housing.
• The CDC has updated information about its own two COVID-19 diagnostic tests.

Federal Funding Opportunities for Hospitals

• NASH has prepared a document that collects and presents in one place the various new federal funding opportunities for hospitals resulting from legislation addressing the COVID-19 public health emergency.  Find that document here.

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