On January 31, 2020, the Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency due to COVID-19. This declaration covered a 90-day period and has been extended continuously since April 2020. Each extension covers 90 days.

LeadingAge created charts to help providers understand what requirements have been waived for home health agencies and hospices, and what the waiver means for operations. All waivers are “blanket waivers” and providers do not need to apply for an individual or state-level waiver in order to take advantage of these flexibilities. These waivers are in effect for the duration of the federal public health emergency (PHE), unless otherwise noted.

As indicated in the chart, waivers which are still in place will end with the PHE unless CMS terminates them early which is within their authority.