Governor Cuomo Announces “Reopening” Updates
Today (May 15th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he discussed the launch of New York’s “reopening” process, which begins today in five of the State’s ten regions, as per the Governor’s most recent Executive Order (see below). These regions will start Phase One of reopening, which involves resuming low-risk businesses, such as retail stores operating with in-store pick-up, but individuals are still advised to continue social distancing measures and to wear masks when within six feet of other people in situations. Local officials will be enforcing business compliance and social distancing, and each regional control center will have daily morning meetings to review and monitor infection, testing, and hospitalization rates.
The Governor announced that New York State will align with New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware in reopening state beaches/lakeshores on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend (May 22nd). However, certain conditions at beaches/lakeshores must be maintained, such as operating at no more than 50% capacity, prohibiting group contact activities, and closing concessions. City/town/county beaches may open under the same conditions at the discretion of local officials.
Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order 202.31
On May 14th, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.31 (available here), which extends provisions in previously issued Executive Orders 202.3-202.14 that closed or restricted public and private businesses and cancelled all non-essential gatherings, otherwise known as “NY on PAUSE,” until May 28th. However, the Phase One industries (construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, curbside or in-store pick-up/drop-off retail, and manufacturing and wholesale trade) that are in regions that have met the State’s metrics for reopening are not subject to such restrictions. Those regions are currently Finger Lakes, Central New York, Mohawk Valley, Southern Tier, and North Country. Additional details on requirements for the industries permitted to reopen under Phase One, including guidelines and safety plan templates, are available here.
The Order also:
- Modifies sections of the Labor Law to provide claimants of unemployment benefits with temporary relief from serving forfeit day penalties during the COVID-19 emergency.
- Amends the Penal Law to the extent that it is inconsistent with any directive requiring an individual to wear a face covering in public or otherwise.
- Extends the directive contained in Executive Order 202.15 allowing for digital signatures on documents related to the determination or collection of tax liability for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency.
- Modifies previous directives related to closure of movie theaters to allow for drive-in movie theaters to open.
CMS Approves Additional 1135 Waiver Flexibilities for New York State
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a letter (available here) approving additional flexibilities requested by New York State through an 1135 emergency waiver. CMS approved a subset of the State’s initial 1135 waiver requests (available here) on March 26th.
Retroactive to March 1st and for the duration of the public health emergency, this approval letter allows for the following flexibilities:
- Authorizing services provided under 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver program, the 1915(i) HCBS State Plan benefit, and the Community First Choice State plan option under 1915(k) to be provided in settings that have not been determined to meet the HCBS setting criteria to accommodate circumstances in which an individual requires relocation to an alternative setting while ensuring continuation of HCBS care.
- Allowing the State to waive written consent requirements for HCBS programs under 1915(c), 1915(i), and 1915(k) waivers and allow for documented verbal consent as an alternative.
OPWDD Webinar on New Day Services Retainer Program
On May 14th, the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) held a webinar (posted here; slides available here) for Day Habilitation, Prevocational Services, and Community Habilitation (CH) providers and Supervised Individual Residential Alternatives (IRA) providers regarding the new Day Services Retainer Program.
OPWDD has changed several aspects of the program design. Providers who choose to participate may now bill the usual daily rate that they would have billed for day services, according to the “pre-COVID” schedule, up to 80% of the average monthly volume from last year (Retainer Units), instead of the previously announced bi-weekly model. Retainer Units should be billed for individuals who cannot be served or who can only be served in a minimal capacity. Providers will still be able to bill for services delivered via telehealth or other services on top of their usual daily rate to reach 100% of their average monthly revenue (Service Units). Both Retainer and Service Units will be billed through eMedNY. In most cases, providers may bill either a Service Unit or Retainer Unit for an individual on a given day, but not both. The State will notify agencies of the maximum number of Retainer Units and total units (Retainer + Service combined) that they may bill each month.
Supervised IRAs will receive an additional payment for individuals who participated in Day Habilitation or Prevocational Services from another agency using CH-R. The Supervised IRA cannot bill Medicaid for both Retainer Units and the authorized number of CH-R units on the same day; however, a day service provider at a different agency may bill Retainer Units according to the “pre-COVID” schedule if the residential agency delivers and bills Medicaid for CH-R to reflect the day-time staffing needs of the individual.
The timeline for the effective date of the retainer payments remains the same, with Day Habilitation and Prevocational Services retroactive to April 16th, and Community Habilitation retroactive to March 18th. Providers must still qualify and sign an attestation to agree to participate in the program.
DOH Weekly Provider Webinar and Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Webinar
On May 14th, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) held its weekly provider webinar (available for viewing here). The webinar provided global, national, and local epidemiological updates on COVID-19, an update on the status of COVID-19 therapeutics, and tips and resources for clinician wellbeing. DOH’s weekly provider webinars are held every Thursday at 1pm and can be viewed here.
DOH also held a webinar yesterday for health care providers on the Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (available for reviewing here). The webinar discussed the symptoms, testing, and care of the reported inflammatory disease potentially related to COVID-19 in children.
Updated Guidance Documents
Recently released or revised New York State guidance documents are listed below: