NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2020 - 7

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, NHPCO has been working as an effective
advocate for hospice providers. Through the development of resources, near daily COVID-19 Updates,
hosting of education webinars, pushing for policy support, and summarizing information from a range of
sources, NHPCO has been committed to helping the hospice and palliative care community make it
through this unprecedented public health crisis. NHPCO's activity relating to COVID-19 has been a part
of our leadership within our provider community and we hope some of the things we have created and
accomplished have made a difference for hospice and community-based palliative care organizations in
the U.S. Below, we highlight some of our accomplishments from the past few months.

POLICY

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Each of the following policies are
the direct result of NHPCO's work
with Congress and the
Administration.
CARES Act
❚ Face-to-Face.
Statutory change to
allow use of telehealth technology
for face-to-face encounters for
recertification for hospice care,
during the emergency period.
❚ Sequestration Relief. These
provisions eliminated the 2%
reduction in Medicare
reimbursement that has been in
place since 2014.
❚ Emergency Support Funding.
Ensured hospices were included in
the emergency funding provided
under the CARES Act. Hospice
was awarded $1 billion out of the
first $30 billion of CARES money
that was appropriated to health
care providers. Hospices received
grants based on their 2019
Medicare reimbursements.

1135 Waivers
NHPCO advocated for
increased flexibility
through 1135 waivers, including six
separate 1135 blanket waivers
recently approved by CMS. The
waivers include extending the
timeframe to update the
comprehensive assessment from
15 to 21 days and waiving the
requirement for onsite visits for
hospice aide supervision.
Virtual Visits
In addition to the 1135
blanket waivers for
hospice, NHPCO advocated for
clarifications and flexibilities for
hospice providers in delivering
routine home care through the
use of telecommunications.

FOCUSED EDUCATION
NHPCO has organized and
hosted webinars focused on
COVID-19 relevant topics
including the latest updates,
telehealth and virtual visits, and a
series on compliance issues
related to government funding.
Webinars have been made

available to the entire provider
community while special-focused
topics have been made available
exclusively to NHPCO members.

COVID-19 UPDATES
NHPCO's COVID-19 Updates
offered breaking news and relevant
links to timely information. As
available information expanded or
changed - on what seemed like a
daily basis - NHPCO established
this email that was sent on just
about a daily basis to help
providers in the field cut through
the torrent of information that has
been released. Available to
members and non-members, the
COVID-19 Update was part of our
organization's effort to keep
providers up to date.

SOCIAL MEDIA
#hapcFacesOfCaring
NHPCO's latest social media
campaign #hapcFacesOfCaring
highlights the faces and stories of
hospice and palliative care teams
providing care amid COVID-19.
See page 34 in this issue of

Newsline / Summer 2020

NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2020