◆ Hospitals should expect regulatory relief in the Medicare Conditions of Participation (COP), CMS Administrator Seema Verma said on a Jan. 18 American Hospital Association “Town Hall Interactive” webcast with AHA President Rick Pollack. Verma said when CMS reached out for feedback from providers on the “most onerous regulations,” they pointed to the COP. “A lot are not necessarily in the payment rules. They are in the Conditions of Participation,” Verma said. “We will put out new regulations that are intended to be deregulatory.” If a requirement comes from Congress, however, CMS can’t mess with it. “But if we can change it, how can we change it?” CMS also will assemble an interagency group, with the Department of Justice and Office of Inspector General, to look at the Stark Law and its regulations, which are ripe for an update. In terms of rural providers, Verma said, “We will look at every policy we put out through a rural lens.” Some policies may not make sense for a rural provider, or maybe they need “more time or technical assistance.” Visit http://windrosemedia.com/windstream/aha/011718/ to watch the video.