According to the White House, the end of the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) declarations is now barely two months away, as they are scheduled to end on May 11, 2023. These declarations provided the federal government with flexibility to waive or modify certain regulatory requirements applicable to the healthcare industry. Once the declarations end, so will the vast majority of these flexibilities and waivers. Accordingly, a relatively short and closing window remains for the healthcare industry – including but not limited to health plans, hospitals, home health agencies, clinics, and entities that offer telehealth services – to prepare their operational, administrative, and clinical teams for the reinstatement of previously waived requirements.
In the attached publication, we identify and summarize some of the most important waivers and flexibilities, as well as the associated payment, administrative, operational, and clinical workflow changes that are implicated by the end of the PHE.