HHS July 2020 Public Health Emergency Renewal: Historical Telehealth Waivers

Historical context (July 2020; reviewed November 2026): This July 2020 legal alert by Benjamin Geizhals and Caitlyn Ryan describes HHS’s July 23, 2020 renewal of the COVID-19 public health emergency. CMS confirms that the federal emergency ended May 11, 2023. The waivers and payment rules discussed below were time-limited pandemic measures and do not by themselves establish current coverage. Under current HHS guidance, many Medicare telehealth flexibilities extend through December 31, 2027, subject to service-specific requirements. Original 2020 legal alert.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services announced a renewal of the nationwide public health emergency (“PHE”) late on Thursday, July 23, 2020. The announcement came just two days before the then-current PHE designation was set to expire, and will extend the PHE for an additional ninety-day period. The PHE declaration, along with the Stafford Act Emergency Declarations, are directed at expanding access to critical resources during the global health crisis and increasing flexibility within the health care system.

At the time, the July 2020 renewal allowed a number of temporary regulatory changes and payment policies to continue during the public health emergency. This includes, for example, the increased Medicaid matching rates, the requirement that insurers cover COVID-19 testing without cost-sharing, and the temporary 20% increase in Medicare inpatient prospective payment weights for eligible COVID-19 discharges. Further, the renewal permits the continuation of the waivers in connection with telehealth visits, which have increased more than 8,000% nationwide over the past year.