CMS Actions to Help Katrina-Stricken Areas

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is relaxing normal operating procedures in order to meet the emergency health care needs of beneficiaries and providers in states severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. A primary goal of CMS is to ease the burden of documentation on beneficiaries without healthcare records or proof of status as Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries. Healthcare providers who cannot comply with normal Medicare and Medicaid requirements due to the hurricane, but who furnish medical services in good faith, will be paid and exempt from sanctions for noncompliance.