Coronavirus Update - February 24, 2021

Federal Updates

Biden Administration Announces Updates on COVID-19 Response
The Biden Administration’s updates on efforts to combat COVID-19 this week include:

This week, the Administration will supply a total of 14.5 million doses to states and other jurisdictions, an increase from 13.5 million doses last week.
The Retail Pharmacy Program will receive an increased allocation of 100,000 doses on top of the 2 million doses last week.
The Administration expects to have enough supply of vaccines for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
Starting this week, the Administration will hold a series of listening sessions with key stakeholder groups, led by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, head of the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
The Administration will deliver 25 million masks to approximately 1,300 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) for distribution to their patients starting in March.

CMS Issues Memo on Maximizing COVID-19 Vaccinations for Dual Eligibles
On February 18^th , the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memorandum for managed care organizations serving dually eligible individuals, including Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations, and integrated Medicare-Medicaid Plans (MMPs) to maximize opportunities for the access of COVID-19 vaccines for dually eligible individuals. CMS encourages plans to:

Engage with its enrollees to address barriers to access and vaccine reluctance
Analyze data to actively monitor COVID-19 vaccines amongst enrollees
Focus on cultural competency to ensure equitable vaccine access

CMS outlines opportunities to increase vaccination rates via plan benefit structures such as rewards and incentives and the use of non-emergency medical transportation.

The memo is available here.

Updated Guidance on Medicare Fee-for-Service Billing
On February 19^th, CMS updated its COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Medicare Fee-for-Service Billing. Newly added guidance includes:

Waiving of the Medicare requirement to allow hospitals to administer COVID-19 vaccinations without individual clinical orders for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). State law or other requirements may still apply.
Clarifications around billing procedures (e.g., product codes, roster billing) for monoclonal antibody products and COVID-19 vaccines for physicians, hospitals, and other providers.
Guidance around the use of claim forms and revenue codes for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) temporarily enrolled as hospitals.

The updated comprehensive list of FAQs can be found here.

State Updates

Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order 202.95
On February 22^nd, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.95 (available here), which extends all previous directives not otherwise modified or expired through March 24^th. The Order also:

Requires teachers employed by a public or non-public P-12 school or school district who have received a COVID-19 vaccination to report this information to their employing school or school district upon request for the purposes of reporting such information to the State Department of Health (DOH); and
Starting on February 24^th and continuing every Friday thereafter, mandates every school and school district to report to DOH on a weekly basis the number of completed COVID-19 vaccinations reported in the week prior, as well as the number and percentage of teachers instructing students in-person during the prior week.

Governor Cuomo Announces Expanded Guidelines for Nursing Home Visitations
On February 22^nd, Governor Cuomo announced expanded guidelines for visitation of residents in nursing home facilities that align with recommendations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Effective February 26^th, the new DOH guidelines (available here) recommend that visitors take a rapid test before entry into the facility. Individuals visiting facilities located in a county with a medium (5-10%) positivity rate will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result from the past 72 hours, proof of completed COVID-19 vaccination within an appropriate timeframe, or receive a negative rapid test result. For facilities located in counties with high (>10%) positivity rates, visitation will only be permitted for compassionate care situations and rapid testing should be offered when possible. DOH will provide rapid tests to nursing homes to facilitate on-site testing at no cost.

Visitation continues to be contingent upon the nursing home facility being free of COVID-19 cases for 14 days and not currently conducting outbreak testing. The nursing home facility must also adhere to all requirements outlined in the updated guidelines, including but not limited to:

Complying with state and federal reporting requirements (i.e., COVID-19 focus surveys, daily HERDS);
Ensuring that visitors adhere to infection prevention and control policies and that movement within the facility is limited;
Communicating policies to residents, staff, and visitors that limit the number of visitors per resident at one time and limit the total number of visitors in the facility at one time (number of visitors may not exceed 20% of the resident census at any time);
Adhering to screening protocols for staff, residents, visitors, vendors, students, and volunteers;
Facilitating outdoor visitation when possible; and
Guaranteeing the availability of personal protective equipment.

The guidelines also include specific requirements for compassionate care visits, which are permitted when visitation may otherwise be suspended in accordance with DOH’s current visitation guidance.

The Governor’s press release is available here. Questions may be sent to covidnursinghomeinfo@health.ny.gov.

Updated Guidance Documents
Recently released New York State and City COVID-19 guidance documents are listed below.