Updates & Analysis

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Reopening Progress, Forthcoming Legislation Protecting Healthcare Whistleblowers Today (June 17th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced continued progress in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic in New York State, with 1,479 total hospitalizations and 17 deaths reported yesterday. Additionally, of nearly 60,000 individuals tested for COVID-19 yesterday, 0.96…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Updated Antibody Survey Results, New Visitation Allowances Today (June 16th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced continued progress in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic in New York State, with 1,538 total hospitalizations and 25 deaths reported yesterday. The Governor announced the results of a statewide antibody survey…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Continued Progress in Combatting the COVID-19 Pandemic, Additional Regions Entering Phase Three Today (June 15th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced continued progress in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic in New York State. Over the weekend, New York State had the lowest three-day average of deaths since…

Governor Cuomo Sees Continued Progress in COVID-19 Outbreak  Today (June 12th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that new cases of COVID-19 continue to decline or hold steady in most areas in New York. Effective today, five regions are entering Phase 3 of the NY Forward reopening process, which allows food…

HHS Announces New Medicaid-Only and Safety Net Hospital Relief Funding Today (June 9th), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced two new distributions totaling $25 billion from the Provider Relief Fund, originally established by the CARES Act. First, a distribution of $15 billion will be available to providers who provide services to Medicaid…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces NYC Phase One Reopening, Additional Regions Entering Phase Two Today (June 8th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced continued declines in the COVID-19 outbreak in New York State. Of the 58,054 COVID-19 tests conducted yesterday, 702 (1.2%) were positive for the virus. As planned, New York City today became the…

Federal Updates CMS Announces Adjustments to Innovation Center Models Today (June 3rd), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) published a table of adjustments it will make to CMMI models in response to COVID-19. These adjustments, some of which have been previously announced, include delays to implementation dates, extensions for reporting requirements, and modifications…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Recent COVID-19 Test Results, Regions Entering Phase Two of Reopening Today (June 1st), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that the State is now conducting approximately 50,000 tests per day. Rates of positive tests have declined, with approximately 941 tests yesterday (out of about 50,000) being…

CMS Releases Fact Sheet for Hospital Alternate Care Sites On May 26th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a fact sheet that provides state and local governments with information on how to seek payments through CMS programs for acute inpatient and outpatient care provided at alternate care sites (ACS). The easiest way…

Governor Cuomo Announces Two New Regions Approved for Reopening Today (May 26th), Governor Cuomo announced that the Mid-Hudson Valley and Long Island have met all seven metrics of the New York Forward plan. The Mid-Hudson region will enter Phase One of reopening today, while Long Island will do so tomorrow. New York City is the…

Federal Updates HHS Updates Cares Act Provider Relief Fund FAQs Over the last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has added updated information to the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ document (available here). As a reminder, eligible providers are those who billed Medicare fee-for-service in 2019. Such providers may expect to receive…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Antibody Test Results from Low-Income NYC Communities Today (May 20th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced preliminary COVID-19 antibody test results from a survey conducted in low-income communities in New York City. Conducted in partnership with faith-based organizations and Northwell Health, the survey tested approximately 8,000…