Government shutdown begins: What healthcare leaders should know

The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to reach a spending deal.  Here’s what healthcare leaders should know: Hospital-at-home, telemedicine lapses

While most Medicaid and Medicare services will continue during the shutdown, lawmakers’ inability to reach a deal before midnight affected telehealth and hospital-at-home services. Lawmakers’ inability to strike a funding deal before the Oct. 1 deadline meant that CMS’ hospital-at-home waiver expired. Some leaders told Becker’s in September that if funding lapsed, they would have to end their programs and send home-based patients back to the hospital. The care model allows patients to receive hospital-level care via in-home technology and medical equipment and in-person and virtual visits with clinicians.