CMS Waivers Related to Hurricane Helene

Following Hurricane Helene, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a series of emergency waivers for North Carolina, including a three-day hospital stay waiver under the 1812(f) authority. This particular waiver temporarily removed the requirement for a three-day inpatient hospital stay prior to Medicare coverage of a skilled nursing facility (SNF) stay. 

There has been some confusion on the end date of these CMS waivers.  Unlike standard and past CMS practice—where they announce an explicit end date for each waiver—in this case, CMS tied the expiration of the 1812(f) waiver to the termination of other related waivers (such as those under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act). This linkage made the actual expiration date dependent on the end of the broader emergency declaration and related CMS waivers, rather than being independently announced.   

The 1135 waivers have ended and because of this fact, the 1812(f) waivers (including the 3 day stay waiver) have also come to an end.  Much of the confusion is a result from the fact that these waivers are still listed on the CMS Current Emergences webpage.