In certain circumstances, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services using section 1135 of the Social Security Act can temporarily modify or waive certain Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, or HIPAA requirements, called 1135 waivers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides a current list of coronavirus waivers & flexibilities on its site.
Applicable to sleep medicine clinicians, CMS states:
“Clinicians now have maximum flexibility in determining patient needs for respiratory related devices and equipment and the flexibility for more patients to manage their treatments at the home. The current [National Coverage Determinations] and [Local Coverage Determinations] that restrict coverage of these devices and services to patients with certain clinical characteristics do not apply during the public health emergency. For example, Medicare will cover non-invasive ventilators, respiratory assist devices and continuous positive airway pressure devices based on the clinician’s assessment of the patient.”
Read the full Physicians and Other Practitioners fact sheet online.
