Dorm rooms as hospitals, ER telehealth: CMS creates 'unprecedented' flexibility as COVID-19 rages on

Hospital groups on Tuesday applauded the actions from CMS, with the American Hospital Association calling the ability to care for patients outside of hospitals' four walls a "critical lifeline."

By Shannon Muchmore • Updated April 1, 2020

FDA clears emergency use of malaria pills to treat COVID-19

The unusual authorization, granted by the agency over the weekend, allows the federal government to distribute millions of doses of the drug to states.

By Ned Pagliarulo • March 31, 2020

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Labor

Hospitals are navigating persistent labor shortages with the need to cut costs — a source of contention that could leave patients caught in the middle.

By Healthcare Dive staff

5 FDA approval decisions to watch in the 2nd quarter

The FDA's focus is squarely on responding to COVID-19, yet the agency continues to review new drugs for other diseases. Among them: Roche's SMA therapy risdiplam and Intercept's NASH drug.

By Jacob Bell , Ben Fidler • March 30, 2020

Humana, Cigna join Aetna in waiving COVID-19 treatment charges

CVS Health-owned Aetna first made the policy change Wednesday. Cigna is also deploying staff clinicians to assist its telehealth partner MDLive as more patients turn to virtual visits to avoid coronavirus exposure.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 30, 2020

Trump administration expedites Medicare payments to providers amid coronavirus

CMS advances Medicare payments in emergency situations like natural disasters or to address cash flow issues when there's a disruption in claims submission or processing, based on historical payments to a Medicare provider.

By Rebecca Pifer • March 30, 2020

'What about us?': Frontline primary care practices fear for survival amid coronavirus

Independent practices have resisted selling to hospitals amid years of provider consolidation, reimbursement cuts and more, leaving them with razor-thin margins. Now, they worry COVID-19 could send them off the financial cliff.

By Rebecca Pifer • March 26, 2020

Trump signs $2T stimulus package, clearing $100B for struggling hospitals

The bill, the largest piece of emergency aid in U.S. history, was cleared by the House of Representatives earlier on Friday.

By Samantha Liss • Updated March 27, 2020

UnitedHealth says self-swabbing study spurred FDA coronavirus policy change

The agency now allows onsite self-collection of samples, after a nearly 500-patient study found self-administered tests about as accurate as those carried out by clinicians.

By Nick Paul Taylor • March 26, 2020

Community health centers get $100M for COVID-19 response

Advocacy groups for community health centers welcomed the desperately needed funding, but said it's not nearly enough.

By Hailey Mensik • March 25, 2020

Even with billions from Congress, hospitals set to lose over $1K per COVID-19 case

Those hits, coupled with the loss of lucrative elective procedures — which most hospitals have halted amid the outbreak — could be catastrophic for facilities, especially those in rural areas and with little cash on hand.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 25, 2020

As Congress gains ground on stimulus, healthcare workers ask people to stay home

President Donald Trump, however, said he wanted the nation to be "opened up" by Easter, despite strong advice from public health experts that the U.S. continue social distancing efforts.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 25, 2020

Amid mounting shortage, 5 facts about the nation's stockpile of emergency medical supplies

As healthcare workers across the country scramble for personal protective equipment and other supplies, states are sending in their requests to the Strategic National Stockpile.

By Hailey Mensik • March 24, 2020

Nearly 2 dozen states now have Medicaid waivers for coronavirus response

The waivers allow suspension of federal regulations surrounding prior authorization, sites of care and physician enrollment, among others.

By Rebecca Pifer • Updated March 26, 2020

On 10th anniversary, embattled Affordable Care Act faces yet another stress test

The law now faces a significant test as the nation likely heads into a recession amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, straining the health system in an unprecedented way.

March 23, 2020

FDA eases rules on ventilator manufacturers as Medtronic, Tesla talk

While the administration encourages other sectors to pivot to help fight the crisis, providers and some lawmakers want to use the Defense Production Act to compel them. But President Donald Trump has resisted that.

By Nick Paul Taylor • March 23, 2020

Pandemic prompts CMS to drop some reporting requirements for value-based initiatives

Citing the COVID-19 outbreak, the agency provided either deadline extensions for reporting data connected to the projects or waived them entirely for the fourth quarter of 2019.

By Ron Shinkman • March 23, 2020

Ratings agencies issue foreboding reports on hospital finances as AHA seeks $100B to respond to COVID-19

"While the healthcare sector has responded extremely well to past crises, the scale of the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented," Fitch Ratings warned.

By Ron Shinkman • March 20, 2020

Direct-to-consumer companies wade into coronavirus testing to fill gap

Everlywell said Monday it planned to donate its store of COVID-19 tests to hospitals, following guidance from FDA warning consumers of fraudulent at-home tests.

By Rebecca Pifer • Updated March 23, 2020

Hard-hit Washington state gets CMS green light for Medicaid coronavirus waiver

The Trump administration did not approve a request to expand Medicaid to a greater number of uninsured residents in the state.

By Rebecca Pifer • March 20, 2020

CMS urges hospitals to put off elective procedures

AHA applauded the move, which leaves the final decisions to individual facilities, along with the passage of a coronavirus relief package that includes a raise to the Medicaid federal matching rate.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 19, 2020

Telehealth payment parity in Medicare welcome, but some vendors say it should have come sooner

"We've all been preparing for this and we certainly anticipated this was going to happen," Doctor on Demand's chief legal and business affairs officer told Healthcare Dive.

By Rebecca Pifer • March 19, 2020

How an 'overwhelmed' Buffalo lab facing coronavirus supply shortage signals nationwide struggles

The Western New York regional public health lab is a microcosm of the insufficient swab and reagent stocks labs face as they attempt to confirm COVID-19 cases and gauge the scope of their region's outbreak.

By Greg Slabodkin • March 19, 2020

Pharma salesforces brought to a halt as coronavirus shutters economy

Pharma companies may not have a choice. Hospitals are closing down access, too. MD Anderson Cancer Center, for one, has barred all visitors except caregivers or those with mission-critical business.

By Ned Pagliarulo • March 18, 2020

HHS considers rolling back interoperability timeline amid COVID-19

But some health IT experts are calling for more urgency, not less, to fix the outdated EHR infrastructure and allow the free flow of clinical data to combat the mounting public health emergency.

By Rebecca Pifer • March 18, 2020

Coronavirus drives surge in demand for temp healthcare workers

David Savitsky, CEO of staffing firm ATC Healthcare Services, said one of the biggest concerns among physicians right now is being exposed to the virus and passing it on to other patients — further straining the labor supply.

By Hailey Mensik • March 18, 2020