CMS Delays Implementation of NOTICE Act Until Fall 2016

Beginning August 6, 2016, the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act (NOTICE Act)[1] requires hospitals to provide written and oral notice, within 36 hours, to patients who are in observation or other outpatient status for more than 24 hours. The notice must explain the reason that the patient is an outpatient (and not an admitted inpatient) and describe the implications of that status both for cost-sharing in the hospital and for subsequent “eligibility for coverage” in a skilled nursing facility (SNF). In final regulations for inpatient hospital reimbursement that were put on display at the Office of Federal Register on August 2, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announces that the final rules, including rules to implement the NOTICE Act, become effective October 1, 2016 and that the required written notice to patients – the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) – will not become effective until 90 days following approval of the MOON by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As of August 4, OMB had not approved the MOON. What the CMS final rules mean is that the NOTICE Act will not be implemented until the late Fall of 2016, at the earliest.

Source/more: Center for Medicare Advocacy

 

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.

Posted on:

Comments are closed.

Close
loading...