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This rule finalized certain provisions of the following TRICARE interim final rules issued in 2020 in response to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) national emergency.

1. TRICARE Coverage and Reimbursement of Certain Services Resulting from Temporary Program Changes in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (RIN 0720-AB81, published May 12, 2020 (85 FR 27921-27927)).

2. TRICARE Coverage of Certain Medical Benefits in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (RIN 0720-AB82, published September 3, 2020 (85 FR 54914-54924)).

3. TRICARE Coverage of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Coronavirus Disease 2019 Clinical Trials (RIN 0720-AB83, published October 30, 2020 (85 FR 68753-68758)).

With this rule, the following provisions were finalized:

(1) temporary waiver of the exclusion of audio-only telehealth services during the COVID-19 national emergency, modified to make medically necessary telephonic office visits a permanent benefit;

(2) temporary waiver of telehealth cost-sharing during the COVID-19 national emergency, modified to reinstate cost-sharing on the effective date of this final rule;

(3) temporary waiver of certain provider licensing requirements during the COVID-19 national emergency which will terminate at the end of the President’s declared national emergency for COVID-19;

(4) temporary waiver of the three-day prior hospital qualifying stay requirements for skilled nursing facilities during the COVID-19 national emergency which will terminate at the end of the President’s declared national emergency for COVID-19;

(5) temporary waiver of certain acute care hospital requirements for temporary hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers during the COVID-19 national emergency, modified to apply to all entities enrolled with Medicare’s Hospitals Without Walls initiative and which will terminate when Medicare’s initiative is terminated;

(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) which will terminate at the end of the HHS PHE;

(7) temporary waiver of certain requirements for Long Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) during the HHS PHE) which will terminate at the end of 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 permanent 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 (0720-AB83).