On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced that it will be ending the Public Health Emergency (PHE) related to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11. Declaring a PHE has allowed the health care system to access emergency services and increase funding to ensure that everyone in our country had access to medical care and treatment. The Biden Administration has previously stated they would give 60 days’ notice to allow the health care system to prepare for the switch back to funding and resources levels pre-pandemic.

Ending the COVID-19 PHE will alter how the virus is treated, downgrading it from a pandemic to an endemic public health threat to be managed through the standard actions of the federal government. That would also move vaccines and treatment away from direct federal governance.

Republicans in Congress are calling for an immediate end to the PHE, but the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a statement that an “abrupt end to the emergency declarations would create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system.” The OMB released a separate statement threatening a Biden veto of Republican-sponsored legislation in Congress to eliminate COVID-19 vaccine mandates for health care providers working on some federal programs.

On December 29, 2022, H.R. 2716, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 was signed into law. This legislation included an extension of the major telehealth waivers and the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) individual waiver that were initiated during the PHE. The following materials reflect recent changes and are currently available on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Current Emergencies webpage:

• Provider-specific fact sheets for information about COVID-19 PHE waivers and flexibilities
• CMS 1135 Waiver/Flexibility Request and Inquiry Form
• Acute Hospital At Home

Updates will continue to be provided as the end of the PHE approaches. Providers and stakeholders are encouraged to regularly visit the Current Emergencies webpage: for the most up-to-date information.

• Resource: What Happens When COVID-19 Emergency Declarations End? Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Access (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1/31/23)