CMS Resources for Patients and Families

CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 illness this fall and winter.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a new overview fact sheet that provides more information about CMS waivers, flexibilities and the transition forward from the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission Long-term Care (LTC) Regulation has published Provider Letter 2023-05, which describes the waivers that are ending, the waivers still in place and the waivers that previously ended in regard to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

A new report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlights patients’ experience of Long COVID to better understand its complexities and offers a variety of short-term and longer-term recommendations that come directly from the patient experience.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that people with Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage, private insurance coverage, or no health coverage can get COVID-19 vaccines, including the updated Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, at no cost, for as long as the federal government continues purchasing and distributing these COVID-19 vaccines.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is assessing its response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the health care system is prepared for addressing future emergencies. Visit the CMS website for details of what CMS calls "a cross-cutting initiative" to streamline the process used to reestablish health and safety standards. CMS will identify barriers and opportunities for improvement using a health equity lens.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new test-to-treat program to allow anyone who thinks they may have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 to get tested and receive treatment, if appropriate, all in the same location.

Download this latest version of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Nursing Home Visitation FAQs, which were updated Feb. 2, 2022, with information about testing visitors for COVID-19, improving air flow and air quality in facilities and funding available for environmental changes, which could potentially reduce transmission of COVID-19.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced that insurance companies and group health plans will be required to cover the cost of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests beginning Jan. 15, 2022.

Watch and share this video with patients and loved ones who have chronic health conditions to educate them on why getting the COVID-19 vaccine is so important.

Listen to this recording from the week of Aug. 16, 2021, with Russell Kohl, MD, FAAFP, chief medical officer at TMF Health Quality Institute. Dr. Kohl gives an update on what states in the TMF region have experiened with the surge of the delta variant, the status of COVID-19 vaccinations, deaths and a look at vaccination rates among medical personnel in nursing homes.

Listen to this recording from the week of Aug. 16, 2021, with Russell Kohl, MD, FAAFP, chief medical officer at TMF Health Quality Institute, to learn what has changed with the COVID-19 vaccine and why booster shots are now being recommended.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is developing an emergency regulation requiring staff COVID-19 vaccinations within the nation’s more than 15,000 Medicare- and Medicaid-participating nursing homes.

The Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations for both the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to allow for an additional dose in certain immunocompromised people.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, has issued the first Surgeon General's Advisory of this Administration to warn the American public about the urgent threat of health misinformation during the COVID-19 vaccination push.

Do you know the difference between feeling lonely and feeling socially isolated? Do you know what to do to help yourself or a loved one who might feel lonely or socially isolated? The National Institute on Aging lists tips to stay connected.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is increasing the Medicare payment amount for administering the COVID-19 vaccine. Visit the CMS website for more information and to review billing codes.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued new guidance removing barriers to COVID-19 diagnostic testing and vaccinations, and strengthening requirements that plans and issuers cover diagnostic testing without cost sharing.

View this website from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that provides COVID-19 vaccine policies and guidance.

Please visit this Medicare Quality Improvement Organization site for beneficiary- and family-centered care information for providers, patients and families.

Email your COVID-19 questions to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at Covid-19@cms.hhs.gov.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a fact sheet with additional guidance for health care providers and patients about the telehealth benefits in the agency’s Medicare program.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people with Medicare are at higher risk for COVID-19. Here are Medicare's latest resources to keep you up to date.

On March 17, 2020, CMS expanded Medicare telehealth coverage that enables beneficiaries to receive a wider range of health care services from their doctors without having to travel to a health care facility.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published this fact sheet.

On March 18, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that all elective surgeries, non-essential medical, surgical, and dental procedures be delayed during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The purpose of these FAQs is to provide guidance to Americans enrolled in individual or small group market health plans, including HealthCare.gov consumers.

On March 13, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced critical new measures designed to keep America’s nursing home residents safe from the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

CMS is authorized to waive certain Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) program requirements and conditions of participation under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act.