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COVID PHE Gets Official HHS Renewal
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PHE-related flexibilities will continue for some time. 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 at press time, the U.S. Senate has yet to confirm her.
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