The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the declarations of a National Emergency and a Public Health Emergency in the United States. These declarations assisted the government, states, healthcare systems, and individual providers with responding to the impacts and challenges brought about by the pandemic. As these declarations are discontinued, there is a need to prepare for the legal, policy, and practice changes that will result.
To increase understanding of the complexities involved, PPN and WRAP-EM hosted a joint information sharing call to discuss the impacts and prepare for the upcoming changes. This event brought together experts from legal, healthcare, and mental/behavioral health services. The presenters shared their expertise and insights on the impacts of discontinuation of the National Emergency and Public Health Emergency Declarations.
Presenters
- James G. Hodge, Jr, JD, LLM – “Legal and policy implications due to discontinuation of the PHE on May 11, 2023”
- Marie M. Lozon, MD – “Planning for Provider and Health System Impacts, and impactful CMS changes”
- Merritt P. (Chip) Schreiber, PhD – “Planning for mental/behavioral health services impacts as a result of PHE discontinuation”
The call series was informative and provided valuable insights to the participants. A readout of the call and Q&A session, along with related presentations from Drs. Lozon and Schreiber, can be downloaded here:
Helpful links
Unwinding Homepage: The centralized location where states and stakeholders can learn more about Unwinding and access resources to help them plan and prepare.
Unwinding Communications Toolkit: The Unwinding Communications Toolkit provides key messages and materials for states and stakeholders to use when communicating with their networks about Medicaid and CHIP Continuous Enrollment Unwinding
Beyond the Basics released two sets of frequently asked questions (FAQ) on unwinding Medicaid continuous coverage. The first set explains how unwinding the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement will work, the challenges Medicaid beneficiaries may face during the process, and what enrollment assisters such as health centers can do to help. The second set offers outreach and enrollment tips to assist people retain coverage.