State of Emergency is ending!!

Outbreak Period end is near

On January 30, 2023, the Biden administration announced that it would end the public health emergency and the national emergency related to COVID-19 on May 11, 2023. The end of both emergency declarations has implications for sponsors of group health plans. The timing of the announcement is a response to activity in the House of Representatives — a bill and a joint resolution — that would have ended the emergency declarations sooner than May 11.

The public health emergency and the national emergency

Since January 31, 2020, when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared the public health emergency (retroactive to January 27, 2020), the federal government has extended it 12 times. The most recent extension took effect on January 11, 2023 for at least an additional 90 days (i.e., April 11, 2023). The January 30 announcement noted that the public health emergency will be extended until May 11.  HHS had indicated it would give at least a 60-day notice before the expiration of the public health emergency.

President Trump declared the national emergency on March 13, 2020 (retroactive to March 1, 2020). On February 18, 2022, President Biden extended the national emergency until March 1, 2023. The end of both declarations was announced in a policy statement.

What does this mean for employers?

This public health emergency determines the period in which group health plans must pay for COVID-19 tests and related services without charging cost sharing. In addition, during this period non-grandfathered group health plans must cover COVID-19 vaccines without cost-sharing both in and out of network. Once the public health emergency expires, non-grandfathered plans may limit COVID-19 vaccine coverage to in-network providers.

Other plan requirements, most notably the requirement to extend certain deadlines related to COBRA, special enrollment, and claims and appeals, are governed by the national emergency.

Action item

In preparation for the end of these items, plan sponsors should review plan coverage for COVID-19 and related costs and determine how to address these costs once the requirement to pay for them ends.

How the End of the COVID-19 Emergency Periods Will Impact Health Plans (lhdbenefits.com)

Commentary by: Raylea Stelmach

Edited by: