HHS Declares Iowa, Indiana ‘Health Emergency’ Areas

WASHINGTON–Operating under authority from the Public Health
Service Act, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has declared a public
health emergency in the flood-stricken states of Iowa and Indiana.
The action gives CMS greater flexibility in meeting emergency
health needs, according to HHS.

“Because of flood damage to local health care facilities,
many beneficiaries have been evacuated to neighboring communities,
where receiving hospitals and nursing homes may have no health care
records, information on current health status or even verification
of the person’s status as a Medicare beneficiary,” HHS said.
“CMS is assuring those facilities that in this circumstance,
the normal burden of documentation will be waived and that they can
act under a presumption of eligibility.”

The news is welcome in the states, which have experienced
record-breaking floods. In Waterloo, Iowa, attendees at the VGM
Heartland Conference had to be evacuated from the city as
floodwaters from the rising Cedar River threatened the Five
Sullivan Brothers Convention Center and downtown businesses June
11.

Carolyn Cole, vice president of corporate communications for
VGM, said while the water has receded from downtown Waterloo, homes
in some residential neighborhoods were devastated.

“A very preliminary estimate of damage by [Waterloo Mayor
Tim Hurley] is $18 million. Landfill hours have been extended, and
usage is double what it normally is,” Cole said.

According to VGM’s John Gallagher, the clean-up effort “will be
a long and arduous process.”
Rose Schafhauser, executive director of the Midwest Association of
Medical Equipment Suppliers, which includes Iowa, said she
estimates between 15 and 20 MAMES providers have been affected by
the floods, with “employees not being able to get to work,
customers’ homes flooded [and] multiple hours to get to customers’
homes where major bridges were flooded.”

In response to the regional flooding, which continues to affect
areas in the Midwest, CMS said it is providing resources to ensure
health care coverage. Among other actions, the agency said it
will:

–Waive certain program requirements for some institutional
providers.
–Expand the definition of “home” to allow
beneficiaries who are receiving home health services to receive
those services in alternative sites.
–Ensure that rules preventing early refills of prescriptions under
Part D are waived.
–Work with FEMA to manage lost, stolen or left-behind DME
equipment.

A notice from Noridian, the Jurisdiction D DME MAC, reminded
providers that CMS established the modifier “CR”
(Catastrophe/Disaster Related) in August of 2005. In that month,
Hurricane Katrina hit the nation’s Gulf Coast, leaving 1,836 people
dead and causing an estimated $81.2 billion in damage.

Reporting the CR modifier “will indicate emergency health
care needs and facilitate Medicare claims processing for victims of
a disaster,” Noridian said.

Information about CMS’ emergency relief activities can be
found on the CMS Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/emergncy/20_midwestflooding.asp.