Hurricane Irma - Disaster Exceptions/Exemptions for Medicare Certified Providers Affected by Severe Storms and Flooding

September 15, 2017

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is granting exceptions under certain Medicare quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs to acute care hospitals, PPS-exempt cancer hospitals, inpatient psychiatric facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, renal dialysis facilities, long-term care hospitals, and ambulatory surgical centers located in areas affected by Hurricane Irma due to the devastating impact of the storm. These providers will be granted exceptions without having to submit an extraordinary circumstances exception request if they are located in one of the Florida counties, Puerto Rico municipios, or U.S. Virgin Islands county- equivalents, all of which have been designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a major disaster county, municipio, or county-equivalent.

The scope and duration of the exception under each Medicare quality reporting program is described in the memo posted on 9-14-17, however, all of the exceptions are being granted to assist these providers while they direct their resources toward caring for their patients and repairing structural damages to facilities.

CMS will continue to monitor the situation and adjust exempted reporting periods and submission deadlines accordingly.

Additional details and materials are available on the Hurricane page webpage.

For further information about extensions and exemptions for PAC QRPs, view the program-specific webpages: 

• Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements
• Hospice Quality Reporting Extensions and Exemption Requests
• IRF Quality Reporting Reconsideration and Exception & Extension
• LTCH Quality Reporting Reconsideration and Exception & Extension
• SNF Quality Reporting Reconsideration and Exception & Extension