42 U.S. Code § 1395cc–7 - Extension of Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative

(a) In general

(1) Extension

With respect to inpatient hospital admissions occurring during the period beginning on the first day after the end of the emergency period described in section 1320b–5(g)(1)(B) of this title and ending on December, 31, 2024, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall grant waivers and flexibilities (as described in paragraph (2)) to an individual hospital that submits a request for such waivers and flexibilities and meets specified criteria (as described in paragraph (3)) in order to participate in the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative of the Secretary.

(2) Acute Hospital Care at Home waivers and flexibilities

For the purposes of paragraph (1), the waivers and flexibilities described in this paragraph are the following waivers and flexibilities that were made available to individual hospitals under the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative of the Secretary during the emergency period described in section 1320b–5(g)(1)(B) of this title:

(A) Subject to paragraph (3)(D), waiver of the requirements to provide 24-hour nursing services on premises and for the immediate availability of a registered nurse under section 482.23(b) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), and the waivers of the physical environment and Life Safety Code requirements under section 482.41 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).

(B) Flexibility to allow a hospital to furnish inpatient services, including routine services, outside the hospital under arrangements, as described in Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; Organ Acquisition; Rural Emergency Hospitals: Payment Policies, Conditions of Participation, Provider Enrollment, Physician Self-Referral; New Service Category for Hospital Outpatient Department Prior Authorization Process; Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating; COVID–19 (87 Fed. Reg. 71748 et seq.).

(C) Waiver of the telehealth requirements under clause (i) [1] of section 1395m(m)(4)(C) of this title, as amended by section 4113(a) of the Health Extenders, Improving Access to Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP, and Strengthening Public Health Act of 2022, such that the originating sites described in clause (ii) of such section shall include the home or temporary residence of the individual.

(D) Other waivers and flexibilities that, as of December 29, 2022, were in place for such initiative during such emergency period.

(3) Specified criteria

For purposes of paragraph (1), the specified criteria for granting such waivers and flexibilities to individual hospitals are:

(A) The hospital shall indicate to the Secretary the criteria it would use to ensure that hospital services be furnished only to an individual who requires an inpatient level of care, and shall require that a physician document in the medical record of each such individual that the individual meets such criteria.

(B) The hospital and any other entities providing services under arrangements with the hospital shall ensure that the standard of care to treat an individual at home is the same as the standard of care to treat such individual as an inpatient of the hospital.

(C) The hospital shall ensure that an individual is only eligible for services under paragraph (1) if the individual is a hospital inpatient or is a patient of the hospital’s emergency department for whom the hospital determines that an inpatient level of care is required (as described in subparagraph (A)).

(D) The hospital shall meet all patient safety standards determined appropriate by the Secretary, in addition to those that otherwise apply to the hospital, except those for which the waivers and flexibilities under this subsection apply.

(E) The hospital shall provide to the Secretary, at a time, form and manner determined by the Secretary, any data and information the Secretary determines necessary to do the following:

(i) Monitor the quality of care furnished, and to the extent practicable, ensure the safety of individuals and analyze costs of such care.

(ii) Undertake the study described in subsection (b).

(F) The hospital meets such other requirements and conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate.

(4) Termination

The Secretary may terminate a hospital from participation in such initiative (and the waivers and flexibilities applicable to such hospital) if the Secretary determines that the hospital no longer meets the criteria described in paragraph (3).

(b) Study and report

(1) In general

The Secretary shall conduct a study to—

(A) analyze, to the extent practicable, the criteria established by hospitals under the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative of the Secretary to determine which individuals may be furnished services under such initiative; and

(B) analyze and compare, to the extent practicable—

(i) quality of care furnished to individuals with similar conditions and characteristics in the inpatient setting and through the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative, including health outcomes, hospital readmission rates, hospital mortality rates, length of stay, infection rates, and patient experience of care;

(ii) clinical conditions treated and diagnosis-related groups of discharges from the inpatient setting and under the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative;

(iii) costs incurred by furnishing care in the inpatient setting and through the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative;

(iv) the quantity, mix and intensity of such services (such as in-person visits and virtual contacts with patients) furnished in the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative and furnished in the inpatient setting; and

(v) socioeconomic information on beneficiaries treated under the initiative, including racial and ethnic data, income, and whether such beneficiaries are dually eligible for benefits under this subchapter and subchapter XIX.

(2) Report

Not later than September 30, 2024, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall post on a website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services a report on the study conducted under paragraph (1).

(3) Funding

In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program Management Account for fiscal year 2023, out of any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $5,000,000, to remain available until expended, for purposes of carrying out this subsection.

(c) Implementation

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may implement this section by program instruction or otherwise.

(d) Publicly available information

The Secretary shall, as feasible, make the information collected under subsections (a)(3)(E) and (b)(1) available on the Medicare.gov internet website (or a successor website).

(Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title XVIII, § 1866G, as added Pub. L. 117–328, div. FF, title IV, § 4140, Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5926.)

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[1]  So in original. Probably should be “clause (iii)”. See References in Text note below.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 4113(a) of the Health Extenders, Improving Access to Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP, and Strengthening Public Health Act of 2022, referred to in subsec. (a)(2)(C), is section 4113(a) of div. FF of Pub. L. 117–328, which amended subsec. (m)(2)(B)(iii), (4)(C)(iii) of this section.