CMS Updates COVID-19 Testing Methodology for Nursing Homes
CMS announced an update to its methodology for cascading testing requirements for nursing homes based on the community-specific rate of COVID-19 positivity. Under guidance CMS issued on August 26, nursing homes must test staff: monthly if the facility’s county positivity rate is less than 5%; weekly if the county positivity rate is between 5-10%; and twice weekly if the county positivity rate exceeds 10%. In response to concerns from governors of rural states that the frequency guidelines did not work well for rural areas that had low utilization of COVID-19 tests, CMS revised its methodology such that:
– Counties with 20 or fewer tests over 14 days are not required to test staff more frequently than once per month, regardless of county test positivity rates
– Counties with both fewer than 500 tests and fewer than 2,000 tests per 100,000 residents, and greater than 10 percent positivity over 14 days are not required to test staff more frequently than once per week