CMS releases roadmap to the end of the public health emergency
Health officials have told Politico that HHS will extend the PHE again in October.
Photo: John Fedele/Getty Images
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released a roadmap to ending the COVID-19 public health emergency as health officials are expecting the Biden administration to extend the PHE for another 90 days after mid-October, according to Politico.
It is no surprise that the Biden administration will wait until after the November midterm elections to end the PHE.
The current PHE, signed on July 15, will end in mid-October. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has promised to give providers 60 days' notice before announcing the end of the public health emergency.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The notice gives hospitals and other providers time to prepare for the end of waivers and other flexibilities put in place during COVID-19.
Section 1332 waivers on telehealth and hospital care at home has helped hospitals financially during the pandemic. Telehealth waivers will continue 151 days after the end of the PHE.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 expanded access to telehealth services for the diagnosis, evaluation or treatment of mental health disorders after the end of the PHE.
Yesterday CMS released the roadmap to the end of the public health emergency in a blog written by Jonathan Blum, COO and principal deputy administrator; Carol Blackford, director of the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group; and Jean Moody-Williams, deputy director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality.
"In the meantime, CMS encourages healthcare providers to prepare for the end of these flexibilities as soon as possible and to begin moving forward to reestablishing previous health and safety standards and billing practices," the blog post said.
CMS has processed more than 250,000 Section 1135 waiver requests during the pandemic. The agency has determined that some of these measures should remain in place even after the end of the PHE to promote innovation, maintain or improve quality, advance health equity and expand access to care, the blog said.
One example is the reporting requirement for nursing homes, which initially became effective on May 8, 2020, when CMS published an interim final rule with comment. The requirement for nursing homes to report resident and staff infections and deaths related to COVID-19 would have ended with the PHE.
However, in the 2023 Home Health rule, CMS revised the infection control requirements that Long-term Care Facilities must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs so that these facilities continue the COVID-19 reporting requirements until December 2024.
CMS has identified certain flexibilities that are no longer needed, such as onsite long-term care survey findings that are unrelated to infection control, including increases in residents' weight loss, depression and incidence of pressure ulcers. As a result, it was determined that the lack of certain minimum standards, such as training for nurse aides, may be contributing to these issues.
On April 7, CMS announced the termination of some temporary waivers. Safety has also worsened for patients receiving post-acute care, according to data submitted to the CMS Quality Reporting Program. During the second quarter of 2020, skilled nursing facilities saw rates of falls causing major injury increase by 17.4% and rates of pressure ulcers increase by 41.8%, the blog said.
THE LARGER TREND
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its COVID-19 guidance. The CDC recommends an isolation time of five days, but those exposed to the virus are no longer required to quarantine. There is no longer a recommendation to screen those who don't have symptoms, and students can stay in class after being exposed to the virus.
The PHE was last extended on July 15. A public health emergency has existed since January 27, 2020.
In a July 27 letter, the Federation of American Hospitals, representing taxpaying hospitals, sent a letter to Becerra urging another 90-day extension of the PHE after a continuation until October.
The federation wants to see the continued use of remote services, as well as at home hospital outpatient department services, it said in submitting a list of requested continued flexibilities.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
