Federal – Section 1135 Waivers

Note: The Secretary is authorized to waive Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP requirements or sanctions pertaining to (1) conditions of participation and other certification, participation, or pre-approval requirements; (2) in-state licensure; (3) EMTALA; (4) Stark self-referral limitations; (5) certain deadlines or timetables; (6) limits on payments for out-of-network Medicare Advantage services; (7) certain HIPAA violations.  Following the Secretary’s declaration of a public health emergency and the President’s declaration of an emergency, CMS has issued blanket waivers, which are available to all providers. In addition, states, hospital associations, and individual providers have requested and received waivers on issues not specifically addressed in the blanket waivers.  The waivers and corresponding guidance documents must be reviewed carefully to understand their importance and application, and federal waivers must be reconciled with related state-law requirements or waivers.