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I hope you and your families are safe as we enter the most crucial period in our mission to flatten the curve and stop the transmission of COVID-19, despite mounting shortages of staff, PPE, and necessary supplies. Yet, we are also called upon to care for our patients’ needs beyond the scope of novel coronavirus, both in-person and virtually, to keep our communities healthy. Thank you for your perseverance in the face of this hardship.
We continue to build and maintain our COVID-19 recommended resources here. It includes information previously shared, plus updates on state actions and resources, federal actions and small business assistance. Past update emails are archived at the top of the page. Look for my Wednesday Weekly COVID-19 email with new and updated information for you.
Upcoming live events
Today, April 8 at noon (IL Association of Medicaid Health Plans) IAMHP COVID-19 Telehealth Billing Webinar
AAFP Town Hall tonight at 7 pm. You can join on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter at 7:00 p.m Central. This session is approved for 1 CME credit. Missing past recordings or information? Learn more here.
IAFP Practice Management webinar Thursday at 8 pm CT: This week: Telehealth Visits, and how to code them. Farah Turk, MD from the Family Health Center of Plainfield teams up with Lucy Zielinski of Lumina Health Partners, to discuss how to set up or improve your office telehealth process followed by time for Q&A on coding and payment. Register here
IAFP’s webinars are recorded for on-demand viewing at cme.iafp.com. We plan to offer clinical CME on Tuesdays and practice management on Thursdays and also share CME resources from our partners.
AAFP is hosting a weekly series of CME webinars on Fridays 7-8 pm CDT dedicated to topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telehealth Payment Parity
IL Dept. of Insurance published emergency rules on April 3rd based on their Bulletin on March 25th combining the points below with explicit parity mandates for all insurance issuers:
- "To calculate the amount of reimbursement to the insured for the provider’s charges, the usual, customary, and reasonable (“UCR”) charge that the policy has established for the covered benefit would apply to the telehealth service as it would for the service delivered in person." (IDOI Bulletin 2020-04, page 2)
- "While a disaster proclamation remains in effect in Illinois, the EO will temporarily affect the reimbursement rates for telehealth services under commercial health insurance coverage through its incorporation of the Medicaid emergency rule. The rule requires in-network providers to be paid the same rate for telehealth services as for services that they deliver by traditional, in-person methods. For indemnity policies that do not distinguish between in-network and out-of-network providers, the UCR for a covered in-person service shall stand in for an in-network reimbursement rate for that service." (IDOI Bulletin 2020-04, page 4)
- "...if the in-network provider of an in-person service normally would direct bill the issuer for the covered amount and would separately bill the insured for a copay or coinsurance, then an in-network provider of a telehealth service could either bill the whole amount to the issuer or follow the usual split billing process above, and in the latter case the issuer would reimburse the insured for the cost-sharing." (IDOI Bulletin 2020-04, page 2)
Medicare Coverage and Payment of Virtual Services (YouTube Video from CMS)
Latest HFS (Medicaid) Provider Notices: Temporary Prior Authorization Requirement Changes Related to COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Governor issues executive order that health care facilities, professionals, and volunteers are immune from civil liability for any injury or death alleged, unless caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct. Link to ISMS legal analysis of Physician Immunity Based on Executive Order 2020-19.
AMA issues guidance for protecting and engaging medical students
Patients with “life changing events” who lost insurance due to layoffs are eligible to apply at https://getcovered.illinois.gov/en
Illinois information on Emergency Child Care for health care providers
Federal Updates
Paycheck Protection Program: The Administration has released regulations. Page 8 has the formula for determining the amount you are eligible to request.
DEA guidance on Opioids and COVID-19
Members in the News
We are grateful that so many of our members have been featured in the news. In Monday’s Chicago Sun-Times, IAFP past president Carolyn Lopez, MD, President of the Chicago Board of Health, shed light on the City of Chicago’s work in 2019 to drill and prepare for a pandemic.
We are grateful for everything that you are doing for patients. We are also thankful for the efforts of the many front line workers, both in and out of healthcare, who support our communities in a multitude of ways. Our thoughts and prayers go to every single person working to keep us safe.
Thank you for everything you do.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Hanak, MD, FAAFP
Acting President
Stay connected at www.iafp.com and IAFP's Online CME Center
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