Bell Nunnally Partner Jeffrey J. Ansley and associates Arianna G. Goodman and Katherine M. Devlin authored the D Magazine article “How Federal and State Waivers May Impact Care in Texas.” The piece looks at how state and federal health care laws and regulatory waivers administered during the COVID-19 emergency are changing the way care is delivered. The Trump administration in April issued COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers (Blanket Waivers), which are in effect until the end of the coronavirus emergency and have empowered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand health care efforts. In Texas, the state Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) was granted a waiver by CMS allowing various regulatory flexibilities such as: provisionally and temporarily enrolling an out-of-state provider not enrolled in Medicare or another state’s Medicaid program; allowing out-of-state providers to be reimbursed in some instances; and extending prior authorization approvals. Governor Greg Abbott also waived certain regulations in an effort to expand the health care workforce. The group comments, “The healthcare arena is rapidly evolving during the crisis, and that means that the waivers, flexibilities, enforcement actions and guidelines are constantly changing as well. Although patient care should be the No. 1 priority, providers, facilities and the like should do their best to stay up to date on the governing laws and regulations to remain compliant.”
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