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Federal Government Shuts Down: What It Means for Long Term Care
As you may have seen in the news, Congress was unable to pass a government spending package by its deadline of midnight Tuesday, September 30, resulting in a government shutdown. Fortunately, at this time, we anticipate minimal impact on long term care. Medicare and Medicaid are mandatory health program payments that continue even during a lapse of appropriations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a contingency plan to maintain necessary staffing and funding for certain programs during this time. This includes continuing Medicare and Medicaid payments to providers and states. There may be slight delays in payments, waiver approvals, and technical assistance due to fewer federal staff available to do this work, but we do not anticipate serious disruptions. The same is true for HUD programs, such as section 232 loan servicing. If the government shutdown is prolonged, we will keep you posted.
Given the reduction in federal staff, rule-making and other policy development may be delayed. CMS survey and certification surveys will focus on serious, complaint investigations, and other survey activities (recertification, initial and less serious complaint investigations) by federal staff will be suspended. See a summary of CMS activities during a lapse in appropriations.
Additionally, the CDC’s final recommendations for the COVID vaccine this season may also be delayed due to the shutdown. While the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released their recommendations earlier this month, the CDC must issue its final recommendations.
Furthermore, some residents may have telehealth access reduced due to waivers that expired on September 30. This may require rescheduling visits to in-person until the budget issues are resolved. CMS has also directed all Medicare Administrative Contractors to implement a temporary telehealth claims hold, which is standard practice during a partial shutdown. Providers may continue to submit claims during this period, but payment will not be released until the hold is lifted. For more information, please check out this fact sheet and visit https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coverage/telehealth.
AHCA/NCAL is part of a coalition of providers and consumer groups advocating to extend—and make permanent—these telehealth flexibilities. We will continue to encourage lawmakers to reach a swift resolution and restore telehealth access.
AHCA/NCAL will provide important updates as they become available.
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