Home Health & Hospice Week

The Biden administration has taken its first turn at a task everyone wishes would go away — renewal of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

On April 15 and effective April 21, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra renewed the COVID-19 PHE. It is the PHE’s fifth renewal, coming after former HHS Secretary Alex Azar’s original Jan. 31, 2020 declaration and his renewals on April 21, 2020, July 23, 2020, Oct. 2, 2020, and, most recently, Jan. 7, 2021.

In a Jan. 22 letter to state governors, then-acting HHS secretary Norris Cochran said “the PHE will likely remain in place for the entirety of 2021.”

Meanwhile, the CMS Administrator position still remains unfilled. President Biden announced Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as his nominee back in February, but the U.S. Senate has yet to confirm her.

The latest roadblock comes from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is protesting the administration’s April 15 recission of a Medicaid Section 1115 waiver given to Texas in the final days of the Trump administration, multiple press outlets report. CMS says Texas didn’t follow proper rulemaking procedures for the waiver.

“The move, however, is also seen as an attempt to pressure Texas into expanding its Medicaid program to provide health insurance to more low-income residents,” notes STAT.

“Senator Cornyn placed the hold after the Biden administration decided to play political chicken with uninsured Texans’ healthcare,” a Cornyn spokesperson told The Hill.

Cornyn’s hold may not delay the confirmation for long, however. Only 50 votes are needed to confirm a CMS Administrator.