Florida Reps Urge CMS to Delay Review Choice Demonstration in State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (August 14, 2020)—A trio of Representatives from Florida have sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing concerns with the decision to move forward with the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) program in Florida.

In March, due to the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic, CMS announced that the RCD program would be paused from expansion into Florida and North Carolina, which was at the time scheduled to begin in May of 2020. In their announcement CMS planned for the RCD pause to run the extent of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) period. In reversing course, on July 7th CMS announced the pause for RCD expansion into Florida and North Carolina would be ended, and the program would commence on August 3rd, in-spite of the ongoing PHE that was subsequently extended by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on July 25th.

In their letter, Representatives Gus Bilirakis, Kathy Castor and Darren Soto relayed concerns home health agencies in Florida have expressed in meeting RCD-related administrative demands while meeting the varied challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically they cited, “increased time securing vital personal protective equipment necessary to care for their patients, increased time in performing advanced infection prevention techniques, and limited ordering physician availability to provide necessary signatures.”

Additionally, the Representatives see the RCD as an unnecessary burden in the time of an unprecedented pandemic where medical professionals need to be focused on delivering high quality care and infection prevention, as opposed to administrative tasks.

In closing, the Representatives request that CMS resume their previous course of action of pausing further RCD expansion until the public health emergency has come to an end.

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice appreciates the leadership Representatives Bilirakis, Castor and Soto have provided in these challenging times, and their desire for home health providers to focus on caregiving, and not unnecessary administrative tasks.

“The expansion of Review Choice Demonstration at this time of a surge in the pandemic just does not fit with previous CMS actions to relieve providers of paperwork burdens,” said NAHC President William A. Dombi. “We really appreciate the members of Congress who have stepped in to encourage a common-sense approach by CMS to once again pause RCD so home health agencies can concentrate on caring for patients.”

The full letter can be found here.