The coronavirus winter surge is quickly approaching, and at a time when the United States is experiencing record numbers of daily positive COVID-19 tests, with corresponding increases in hospitalizations expected to follow. What the country needs now is for payers – both governmental and commercial – to reinstitute post-acute authorization waivers, since such waivers have largely expired. Currently, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and Anthem have no post-acute authorization waivers in place for any patients, including COVID-19 patients.

Without these waivers, hospitals must again go through the authorization process for post-acute stays. Reporting our lead story during the next edition of Monitor Mondays will be Dr. Edward Hu, system executive director of physician advisor services for UNC Health in North Carolina.

 Other segments to be featured during the live broadcast include the following:

• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, joins the broadcast with his trademark segment, reporting on legal implications facing healthcare providers.
  
  
• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, makes his Monday Rounds with another installment of his popular segment.
  
  
• RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, a partner at the law firm of Practus, files the Monitor Mondays RAC Report.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) official Matthew Albright, now chief legislative affairs officer for Zelis, reports on the status of healthcare legislation associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  
• SDoH Report: Ellen Fink-Samnick, a nationally recognized expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), reports on the news that’s happening at the intersection of COVID-19 and the SDoH. Ellen also conducts the Monitor Mondays Listeners Survey.