On March 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced several temporary regulatory waivers intended “to equip the American health care system with maximum flexibility to respond to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”
Included in the announcement was a notice that CMS will pause the national DMEPOS prior authorization program for certain DMEPOS. Prior authorization was scheduled for implementation for six lower limb prosthesis codes L5856, L5857, L5858, L5973, L5980, and L5987) in four states (PA, MI, TX, and CA) on May 11, 2020 and nationwide on October 8, 2020. AOPA has been in communication with CMS and the DME MACS to express our concerns regarding the impact prior authorization would have on patients’ access to O&P care during the COVID-19 crisis. We believe that this pause will allow Medicare providers to continue to focus on providing medically necessary, clinically appropriate O&P care to Medicare beneficiaries without having to dedicate valuable resources to unfamiliar processes and documentation requirements.
In addition, CMS also announced that they are temporarily waiving signature and proof of delivery requirements for Part B drugs and DMEPOS when a signature cannot be obtained due to COVID-19. In this situation, providers should document in the medical record the appropriate date of delivery and that a signature was not able to be obtained because of COVID-19.
The CMS announcement also discussed a previously announced relaxation of DMEPOS accreditation requirements to facilitate provider enrollment. ABC and BOC have expressed their strong concern that suspending DMEPOS accreditation requirements may expose the Medicare program to increased fraud and abuse. To address this, AOPA and its partners in the O&P Alliance are preparing a letter to CMS asking them to reconsider the suspension of DMEPOS accreditation.
The announcement also indicated increased flexibility in the processing of appeals by both fee for service and Medicare Managed Care contractors. AOPA will look into this provision in more detail and provide additional information regarding these flexibilities in the near future.
Finally, the announcement discussed the potential for advanced Medicare payments that may be available to providers to address immediate cash flow issues. This is a very complex issue and AOPA, in conjunction with our consultants at McGuireWoods, is developing member resources regarding how this program will be implemented.
The CMS announcement may be viewed here.
AOPA will continue to maintain open lines of communication with CMS and the DME MACs and will relay COVID-19 developments to AOPA members as soon as AOPA is aware of them.
Questions may be directed to Joe McTernan at jmcternan@AOPAnet.org or Devon Bernard at dbernard@AOPAnet.org.