Final rule: Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations in the Federal Agencies’ Programs and Activities

This rule provides clarity about the rights and obligations of faith-based organizations participating in the Federal financial assistance programs and activities. This rulemaking is intended to ensure that the Federal financial assistance programs and activities are implemented in a manner consistent with the requirements of Federal law, including the First Amendment to the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Notice: Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Respond to COVID-19 Implemented under the Voluntary Agreement for the Manufacture and Distribution of Critical Healthcare Resources Necessary to Respond to a Pandemic"

The notice contains the text of the Plan of Action identifying nursing homes as one of the end-users.

Memo: Extension of Governors' Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Facilitate Economic Recovery

In this memo, the President has directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund 75 percent of the emergency assistance activities (in 50 states including territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands,) associated with preventing, mitigating, and responding to the threat to public health and safety posed by the virus that these States and territories undertake using their National Guard forces.

Notice: Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs; Provider Enrollment Application Fee Amount for Calendar Year 2021

This notice announces a $599.00 calendar year (CY) 2021 application fee for institutional providers that are initially enrolling in the Medicare or Medicaid program or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); revalidating their Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP enrollment; or adding a new Medicare practice location. This fee is required with any enrollment application submitted on or after January 1, 2021 and on or before December 31, 2021.

Guidance: Electronic Signatures, Transmission, and Storage – Guidance for Multifamily Assisted Housing Industry Partners

The revised notice (H-2020-10) replaces the earlier guidance and provides updates to the following two sections: Section II.A – Added another assisted Multifamily Housing program (Section 811 PRA) and Section VII.B.5 – Revised the language regarding Independent Public Auditors and the use of EIV data.

Request for Information (RFI): Landscape Analysis to Leverage Novel Technologies for Chronic Disease Management for Aging Underserved Populations

This RFI seeks to understand from health systems regarding innovative solutions to chronic disease management leveraging novel technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence (AI), biosensors, apps, remote monitoring, 5G) to optimize compliance with evidence-based standards of care in disease states that cause significant morbidity and mortality in aging populations in underserved areas (e.g., low income, Medicaid-eligible, rural).

Interim final rule: Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

This interim final rule with request for comments (IFC) discusses CMS’s implementation of section 3713 of the CARES Act, which established Medicare Part B coverage and payment for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine and its administration. This IFC implements requirements in the CARES Act that providers of COVID-19 diagnostic tests make public their cash prices for those tests and establishes an enforcement scheme to enforce those requirements. This rule also establishes an add-on payment for cases involving the use of new COVID-19 treatments under the Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). This IFC provides for separate payment for new COVID-19 treatments under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) for the remainder of the PHE for COVID-19 when these treatments are provided at the same time as a Comprehensive Ambulatory Payment Classification (C-APC) service.

Proposed rule: Medicare Program; Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Policy Issues and Level II of the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)

The proposed rule establishes methodologies for adjusting the Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) fee schedule amounts.

Final rule: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2021 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update, Home Health Quality Reporting Program Requirements, and Home Infusion Therapy Services and Supplier Enrollment Requirements; and Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model Data Submission Requirements

The final rule updates the payment rates for home health agencies by 2% for 2021, adopts the new OMB statistical area delineations while capping wage index decreases at 5% for 2021 which is consistent with CMS policy across the Medicare program, holds LUPA thresholds, case-mix weights, and behavior assumptions at the same levels as CY2020, finalizes the changes to §409.43(a) as implemented in the March 2020 IFC that states that the plan of care can and must include any provision of services furnished via telecommunications systems. The rule also reiterates that visits via a telecommunications system cannot substitute for a home visit ordered as part of the plan of care and cannot count as a home visit for purposes of eligibility or payment.

Notice of proposed rulemaking: Low-Income Housing Credit Average Income Test Regulations

In this notice, IRS plans to implement the new Average Income minimum set-aside for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties.