InsideHealthPolicy Recaps Megan Herber’s Insight on the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

In “Biden’s Comments Leave Telehealth Stakeholders Worried About Early PHE End,” InsideHealthPolicy shared what Health Policy & Government Relations Director Megan Herber had to say in a recent webinar about telehealth policy professionals’ reactions to President Biden’s comments regarding the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).

Herber explained that the PHE currently runs through mid-October and it is quite possible that the United States Department of Health and Human Services could give 60 days’ notice next month, in which PHE could end as soon as mid-December. She noted that President Biden’s comments give more urgency in lobbying for additional telehealth legislation.

“We’re kind of always operating under the assumption that it could end at any time,” said Herber. “Let’s say that the Congressional Budget Office recalculates this baseline and says, ‘never mind, we’re doing five months from January,’ so you lose some of that pretty much free, pre-paid for [extension],” she added. “So, we’re trying to kind of make that case on the Hill as well that there is urgency to act. Don’t wait until four months and 20 days after the pandemic.”

The full article is available for InsideHealthPolicy subscribers.