Kentucky Office of Inspector General Expands on Federal 1135 Waivers for Hospitals

April 10, 2020

On April 6th the Kentucky Office of Inspector General (OIG), in collaboration with the Department for Public Health, issued a directive stating that general acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, and psychiatric hospitals are not required to obtain additional approval from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) for a waiver from any requirement in state law or administrative regulation that is more stringent than federal 1135 waivers issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, which were effective March 1, 2020. Despite this directive that CHFS waivers are not required, the OIG Division of Certificate of Need asks providers to notify the Division, using this emergency form within five days of providing emergency services related to the COVID-19 health emergency when the provider is acting outside of the scope of existing certificate of need authority.