It’s Thursday! Enjoy your NCMS Morning Rounds.
August 20, 2020
This National Survey Asks About Your Wellbeing During Pandemic
NCMS partner organization, The Physicians Foundation, is asking physicians nationwide to take just three minutes to complete its survey on physician wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results will be shared with policymakers, legislators, the public, the media and you to ensure physicians’ voices are heard. If you include your email you will be entered in a drawing for one of four $500 Amazon gift cards. TAKE THE SURVEY.
This is the second in a series of surveys by The Physicians Foundation aimed at gauging the impact of COVID-19. The results of the first survey examining how the pandemic has affected physician practices and patients were released earlier this week. See the results of the first survey.
The third and final survey in the series will explore COVID-19’s impact on the health care system. Watch your NCMS Morning Rounds for that survey in the coming weeks. THANK YOU for participating in these important information gathering efforts to assess the current situation and your needs.
NC Medicaid To Cover COVID Test for Uninsured
Effective Sept. 1, NC Medicaid will begin reimbursing COVID-19 testing costs for uninsured individuals who enroll in the NC Medicaid Optional COVID-19 Testing (MCV) program. This option was made available to all states through Section 6004(a)(3) of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
To be eligible for this program, the person must
• Live in North Carolina;
• Be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national or have eligible immigration status;
• Not be covered by Medicaid, Medicare or other health insurance.
Individuals will be able to apply online for the MCV program beginning in September. For those without access to the Internet, NC Medicaid encourages COVID-19 testing site providers and other Medicaid-enrolled providers who perform testing to download paper applications, available in English and Spanish, and collect them for mailing to the Medicaid address on the form. Paper applications are estimated to take 2 to 6 weeks for processing.
And in Other Medicaid News…
As of Aug. 15, NC Medicaid will cover bilateral salpingectomy (58661 and 58700) for tubal sterilization both for laparoscopic tubals and at cesarean delivery.
“This is excellent news for the women of North Carolina,” said Amy Bryant, MD, MSCR of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a leader of the NC Ob-Gyn Society (NCOGS). “Bilateral salpingectomy not only provides improved protection from future ovarian cancer, it also very likely provides the best possible contraception for women who are done with childbearing.”
The NCOGS had advocated for this coverage in the past.
Learn more in this NC Medicaid Bulletin.
In the News
Seven Months Later What We Know About COVID-19 – and the Pressing Questions That Remain, STAT, 8-17-20
Learning Opportunity
Physician author Damon Tweedy, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine is offering a Health Humanities Grand Rounds, “Reflections on Race and Medicine in the Year of COVID-19 and Nationwide Protests” on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. In his talk, Dr. Tweedy will explore the dilemma of race within the medical school and hospital setting, highlighting the challenges faced by black patients and black doctors while reviewing recent developments and reforms in the field. Learn more and register here.
If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!