In late July, the Senate passed the NOTICE Act, or the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act. Separate from CMS’ two-midnight rule, the act calls for hospitals to inform Medicare patients when they’re receiving care under observation status for more than 24 hours.
CMS recently requested comments from stakeholders on the NOTICE Act and its rulemaking. AHA chimed in with a letter to Andy Slavitt, acting administrator at CMS.
“We believe that allowing hospitals a six-month implementation period after the final rule is issued would provide the time necessary to operationalize this new policy,” Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president for public policy analysis and development wrote in the letter.
AHA also said CMS should describe how it intends to enforce the NOTICE Act and penalties for noncompliance, and allow hospitals to use a standard written notification. Further, the AHA urged for clarification about whether the law will apply in states with similar existing laws.
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