The Secretary of Health and Human Services has invoked her waiver authority under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act. This allows for the waiver or modification of certain Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) requirements to ensure that sufficient health care items and services are available to meet the needs of individuals enrolled in Social Security Act programs in the emergency area and for the time periods covered by the 1135 authority.
Requests by providers to operate under the flexibilities afforded by the waiver should be sent to the state survey agency or CMS regional office. Please visit our website for a detailed paper outlining the 1135 waiver process (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1/Downloads/RequestingAWaiver101.pdf <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1/Downloads/RequestingAWaiver101.pdf> ). Further information on the 1135 Waiver process can be found at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1/ <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1/> . ________________________________________________________________________ ____________ Flu Season is upon us! CMS encourages providers to begin taking advantage of each office visit to encourage your patients with Medicare to get seasonal flu shots. Flu shots are their best defense against combating flu this season. And don't forget-health care workers also need to protect themselves. Medicare provides coverage of the flu vaccine without any out-of-pocket costs to the Medicare patient as a part B benefit. No deductible or copayment/coinsurance applies. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered Drug. For more information about Medicare's coverage of the seasonal influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp on the CMS website. For information on Medicare policies related to H1N1 influenza, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1 on the CMS website. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you received this message as part of the All FFS Providers listserv, you are currently subscribed to one of eighteen Medicare Fee-For-Service provider listservs. If you would like to be removed from all NIH listservs, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/LISTSERV_WEB/signoff.htm <https://list.nih.gov/LISTSERV_WEB/signoff.htm> ) to unsubscribe. If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/show_list_archives <https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/show_list_archives> ) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS> ). Thank you.
