FAH Urges HHS to Extend COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Waivers

The Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) has urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) beyond the current April 2022 expiration date.

In a recent letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the trade association expressed its gratitude to the department for renewing the PHE. The letter also highlighted the impact the PHE has had on hospitals and the healthcare industry.

The PHE has provided the industry with a number of flexibilities that have made it easier for hospitals and health systems to provide care for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. For example, HHS expanded telehealth coverage for Medicare beneficiaries—a policy currently set to expire when the PHE ends.

HHS also implemented a new Medicare billing requirement at the beginning of the pandemic that offered providers a 20 percent add-on for COVID-19 hospitalizations during the PHE.

Regulatory flexibilities and waivers such as these have been crucial for hospitals throughout the pandemic.

HHS recently renewed the public health emergency, which was initially set to expire on January 16, 2022, and is now extended to April 16, 2022. In addition, HHS stated that it would provide 60-day advance notice before lifting the PHE.

However, FAH is urging HHS to extend the PHE even further and has requested that the department provide states and healthcare providers with more than a 60-day notice before the end of the PHE.

“Unwinding the complex web of PHE waiver-authorized operations, programs, and procedures – which will have been in place and relied on for more than two years – is a major undertaking that, if rushed, risks destabilizing fragile health care networks that patients rely on for care,” the organization wrote.

FAH also urged the department to avoid prematurely lifting the PHE as the country seemingly nears the end of the Omicron variant surge.

“While we are encouraged by the recent downward trend in Omicron infections nationwide, we believe that the threat of COVID-19 and the operational challenges it continues to impose on providers and caregivers remain,” the letter stated.

FAH noted that the average number of weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations continues to surpass 100,000, while weekly case counts are over 200,000. According to the organization, there are an average of more than 2,500 COVID-19-related deaths every day across the country.

The letter cited the unpredictable nature of COVID-19, the continuous damage it has caused, and the threat of new variants as reasons why HHS should extend the PHE beyond April 2022.

FAH represents more than 1,000 tax-paying hospitals and health systems across the country, including teaching, acute, inpatient rehabilitation, long-term care, and behavioral health hospitals.

On the same day that FAH penned its letter to HHS, Becerra received a separate letter from 70 House Republicans requesting that the administration end the public health emergency. FAH letter also comes as states have begun to announce the end of pandemic-related requirements, such as mask mandates.

In another recent letter, FAH and other hospital groups, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), urged congressional leaders to provide additional resources to hospitals as they continue to face operational and financial challenges during the pandemic.