America’s Essential Hospitals created a new members-only resource to track the various authority and flexibility options issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including relevant expiration dates.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Jan. 31 declared a public health emergency (PHE) to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Trump on March 13 declared a national emergency and an emergency determination, with a retroactive start date of March 1.
These actions allow the federal government to access certain resources, exercise additional regulatory authority and flexibility, and provide assistance to states. For example, when the president declares an emergency and HHS issues a PHE, CMS can waive or modify certain Medicare and Medicaid requirements and conditions of participation under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act. The agency issued several Section 1135 waivers to remove barriers for providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new members-only chart is available on our coronavirus resource page; we encourage all members to visit the page for resources and more information about the outbreak.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
