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This final rule will publish under the title "TRICARE Coverage and Reimbursement of Certain Services Resulting from Temporary Program Changes in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” related to RINs 0720-AB81 and 0720-AB83.

The following provisions are finalized in a consolidated final rule, with modifications: (1) temporary waiver of the exclusion of audio-only telehealth services during the COVID-19 national emergency; (2) temporary waiver of telehealth cost-sharing during the COVID-19 national emergency; (3) temporary waiver of certain provider licensing requirements during the COVID-19 national emergency; (4) temporary waiver of the three-day prior hospital qualifying stay requirements for skilled nursing facilities during the COVID-19 national emergency; (5) temporary waiver of certain acute care hospital requirements for temporary hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers during the COVID-19 national emergency; (6) temporary revision of diagnosis related group (DRG) reimbursement at a 20 percent higher rate for COVID-19 patients during the COVID-19 Health and Human Services (HHS) Public Health Emergency (PHE); (7) temporary waiver of certain requirements for Long Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) during the HHS PHE; (8) the permanent adoption of Medicare’s New Technology Add-On Payments (NTAPs) for new medical items and services; and (9) TRICARE’s enactment of the Medicare Hospital Value Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program.  Two provisions of the TRICARE COVID-19 interim final rules are being addressed in a separate final rule: treatment use of investigational drugs under expanded access; and National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) sponsored clinical trials.