First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with our customers, therapy team members, residents and others who are being impacted by Hurricane Ida.
In addition, please continue reading below for updates from Xavier Becerra, Secretary of HHS regarding waiver and modifications for Louisiana and Mississippi.
On Monday, August 30th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a release titled, Waiver or Modification of Requirements Under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act.
Within this release, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of HHS, outlined the waiver and modification of the Social Security Act for Louisiana and Mississippi to ensure that sufficient health care items and services are available to meet the needs of individuals enrolled in the Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs in light of Hurricane Ida. Secretary Becerra said. “These declarations and waivers help ensure that some of the most vulnerable residents of Louisiana and Mississippi – beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid –have continuous access to the care they need in the aftermath of this storm. We stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support to help impacted communities respond and recover.”
Section 1 included information regarding but not limited to the waiver or modification of:
Section 2 provides details related to waiver of sanctions and penalties arising from non-compliance with provisions of the HIPAA privacy regulations:
Section 3 describes the modification of deadlines and timetables and for the performance of required activities.