Nursing homes will not have to apply to receive a share of this incentive payment allocation. HHS will be measuring nursing home performance and distributing payments based on required nursing home data submissions. To be eligible to receive an incentive payment, a facility must have an active certification as a nursing home or skilled nursing facility (SNF) and must also receive reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). HHS will review nursing home certification status through the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) to identify and remove facilities that have a terminated, expired, or revoked certification or enrollment. Facilities must also report data to Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER), which will be used to establish eligibility and collect necessary provider data to inform payment. Additionally, nursing homes must meet two criteria in order to be eligible for payment. First, a facility must demonstrate a rate of COVID-19 infections that is below the rate of infection in the county in which they are located. Second, facilities must also have a COVID-19 death rate that falls below a nationally established performance threshold for mortality among nursing home residents infected with COVID-19.
