Sweeping Regulatory Changes to Help U.S. Healthcare System Address Patient Surge

At President Trump’s direction, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is taking historic and unprecedented steps to equip the American healthcare system with maximum flexibility to respond to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

CMS is issuing a sweeping array of new rules and waivers of federal requirements to ensure that local hospitals and health systems have the capacity to absorb and effectively manage potential surges of COVID-19 patients. These actions introduce flexibilities to permit hospitals and healthcare systems to act as coordinators of healthcare delivery in their areas.