Governor to re-open assisted living, ICFs; draft DODD guidance. In his press conference today, Governor Mike DeWine announced that assisted living communities and ICFs/IID will be re-opened for visitors beginning June 8. Director of Health Dr. Amy Acton will amend her visitation order to accomplish this result. SNFs will not be re-opened at June 8. While the amended order is not yet completed, the Governor's announcement provided a glimpse of what it will say. Visitation in assisted living and ICFs still will be limited and only will be permitted outdoors. The parameters for visiting will be based on recommendations the long-term services and supports associations proposed. We appreciate the willingness of Directors Ursel McElroy and Jeff Davis to consider our input. The Governor's release specifies:

Because each facility is different, each facility can determine how to best implement outdoor visitations, however, at a minimum, all facilities must develop a policy that includes:

• Screening for temperatures and symptom-reporting for visitors
• Scheduled hours and time limits for visits
• Proper social distancing measures
• Face coverings
• Resident, family, and friend education about the risks of the spread of COVID-19

Consideration for visitors during end-of-life situations will also be expanded. Providers should notify family members when a resident's substantial change of condition indicates end-of-life is approaching. Providers should not wait until a resident is actively dying to allow visitors.

Meanwhile, the Department of Developmental Disabilities circulated a draft set of best practices for outdoor visitation at ICFs. While these best practices are not final, providers can use the draft to begin developing their visitation policies in advance of the June 8 re-opening date, then revise their policies to take account of any changes in final version.

Director's testing order published. As the pilot phase of the state's mandatory testing program began today,ODH published Dr. Acton's order on the subject on the Enhanced Information Dissemination and Collection system and the state's Coronavirus web page. Notably, the order specifies that, "ODH will provide guidance to mitigate facility staffing shortages in the event staff test positive for COVID-19 and are unable to work, consistent with CDC guidance." Today, we reviewed a draft of the Health Department guidance, which attempts to meld together various Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directives and includes provisions allowing symptomatic negative and asymptomatic positive workers to continue working under certain circumstances. The final version of the guidelines should should be available shortly.

House passes liability protection bill. The House of Representatives today passed and sent to the Senate House Bill 606, which would create liability protections related to COVID-19 for health care providers and practitioners and for other businesses. The legislation passed with a bipartisan majority of 83-9, which was necessary to ensure the bill has an emergency clause and can take effect immediately.

AHCA convention to be virtual. AHCA/NCAL announced today that they decided to cancel their convention in October as a live event. Instead, it will be offered virtually. Please see AHCA/NCAL's notice for more information.

Governor’s updates on testing. Also during Governor DeWine’s press conference today, two updates on COVID-19 testing were announced:

• The Board of Pharmacy clarified rules that allow pharmacists to order and to administer tests for COVID-19.
  
• To help Ohioans find testing locations, the state added a map showing COVID-19 testing centers to the Coronavirus web page.
• Ohio will allow partners and communities to test Priority Group 4, which includes, “[i]ndividuals in the community to decrease community spread, including individuals with symptoms who do not meet any of the above categories.” Testing first must be available to individuals in Priority Groups 1, 2, and 3, which include healthcare workers, residents of congregate living settings, and citizens with symptoms who are over 65.

BWC offers second deferral of premium installments. The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) deferred premium installments for the months of June, July, and August. Businesses will have the option to defer the monthly premium payments with no financial penalties. This is the second payment deferral BWC has given to employers amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The deferral is designed to help employers focus financial resources on re-opening their businesses under the Responsible RestartOhio plan. 

Aetna Better Health of Ohio COVID-19 provider outreach survey. Aetna Better Health of Ohio recently posted the following message on their provider news and notices page :

In response to COVID-19 there have been changes to support Aetna Better Health member’s and provider’s health and safety. Aetna Better Health of Ohio would like to get a better understanding of how our providers are handling the new regulations around Telehealth Services, Prior Authorizations, and Accessibility. Please consider taking this short survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KXVCPM3

OHCA encourages our members to participate in this survey.

UHC home health and hospice telehealth billing guidance. UnitedHealthcare (UHC) recently updated their telehealth billing guidance for home health and hospice providers. While Medicare currently does not consider these visits reimbursable, UHC decided to pay for these services. The guidance provides scenarios to help providers understand how UHC will reimburse home health telehealth services during the COVID-19 national emergency period. The scenarios do not cover every telehealth service you may perform during the emergency. Please see UHCprovider.com and UnitedHealthcare’s reimbursement policies for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and Individual and fully insured Group Market health plans for more information.