Mid-Atlantic Health Law TOPICS

1.  Temporary Nurse Aides (TNAs) had until September 10, 2023, to obtain certification as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)/Geriatric Nursing Assistant (GNA) in Maryland. Many individuals who are not certified as CNA/GNAs were able to work as CNA/GNAs at nursing facilities or skilled nursing facilities during the pandemic pursuant to a waiver issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This waiver was set to expire at the end of the federal Public Health Emergency, but CMS granted the State of Maryland an extension until September 10, 2023, for TNAs to obtain the required certification to continue their work.

2.  The Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC), the state agency responsible for issuing certificates of need (CON) for new and expanding health care facilities, has proposed new regulations governing the CON application and approval process. The intent of the proposed regulations is to align those regulations with the many statutory changes that have occurred since the last time the regulations were updated in 2005. The proposed regulations also make changes to deadlines in the CON process and add new health equity criteria for reviewing CON applications. Comments on the proposed regulations were accepted through August 14, 2023.

3.  In June, the Health Service Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) approved the FY 2024 Update Factor for Maryland hospital reimbursement. The Update Factor includes increases of 3.35 percent for inflation and 1.97 percent for population growth and decreases of .49 percent for PAY Savings Reduction and .57 percent for Quality Scaling Adjustment. The final result, for hospitals receiving a global revenue budget, is an overall increase of 4.44 percent for revenue and 4.61 percent per capita.

Darci M. Smith
410-576-4153 • dsmith@gfrlaw.com