Although businesses, schools, and the general population seem to be moving COVID-19 to the background, it’s still very much on the forefront of employer health plan administration.

Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced another 90-day extension of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), effective October 13, 2022, extending it through January 10, 2023. HHS has indicated that it will give 60 days advance notice of the end of this particular PHE period, which has been in effect since January 27, 2020. If this is to be the final 90-day period of the PHE, then HHS should announce its forthcoming end by November 12, 2022. What does this mean for employer health plans? For one thing, group health plans must continue to cover COVID-19 diagnostic testing and related services to participants without cost sharing. Nothing has changed for now.

A separate declaration, the national COVID-19 emergency that began on March 1, 2020, was extended most recently for a full year, effective March 1, 2022 (unless the President decides to terminate it earlier). As of now, the national COVID-19 emergency will be in effect at least through February 28, 2023. This means that we are still in the “outbreak period,” and extensions to many deadlines related to COBRA and HIPAA special enrollments are still in place. Again, there are no changes to your current procedures.

Stay tuned to see if these emergency declarations will come to an end in early 2023 or will be extended further.