On Thursday, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar, extended the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days. This is the second time Secretary Azar has extended the public health emergency. It is now set to expire at the end of October.

The extension of the public health emergency means that the waivers and flexibilities that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal agencies have put into place to help health care practitioners and facilities respond to the pandemic (including those related to telehealth and EMTALA) will remain in place.

For more information about CMS’ emergency waivers click here, and for ACEP's summary of federal guidance related to COVID-19, click here.