Increased COVID-19 Specimen Collection Fees for SNF and Homebound Patients

On April 6, 2020, CMS published in the Federal Register (Vol. 85, No. 66) an "Interim Final Rule with Comment Period" that contains CMS's explanation and rationale for establishing two new level II HCPCS codes (G2023 and G2024) and increasing CMS's "nominal" specimen collection fees for a COVID-19 specimen collected from SNF and non hospital in-patients ($23.46) and homebound patients ($25.46).

View Section M (pp. 19256-19258) from the April 6 Federal Register that discusses the collection of COVID-19 specimens under this new, but temporary, policy.

If your laboratory services SNF or homebound patients who are covered by this new policy, please read the comments from CMS in the April 6 Federal Register and let us know if you agree, or disagree with them. If you disagree, please explain why you disagree.

Public comments are due by June 1, 2020, but if there are serious flaws in CMS's statements and/or rationale, we will raise them before June 1, 2020.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.