Whether Hospital Care at Home Continues When Pandemic Emergency Ends Is Up to Congress

AJMC August 12, 2022
Allison Inserro

When the pandemic public health emergency eventually ends, so will the various waivers and regulatory flexibilities enacted by HHS during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the ability to provide acute hospital care at home, unless Congress acts.

Among the many regulatory flexibilities enacted by HHS during the pandemic, the ability for providers and patients of all ages to use telehealth may be among the best known. In a Viewpoint published in JAMA Health Forum, 2 prominent scholars highlight the possibilities of another one of those HHS adjustments—hospital care at home for Medicare beneficiaries—continuing after the public health emergency (PHE) ends.

Initially, after the PHE began, CMS created the Hospitals Without Walls program in March 2020, with the intent to ease the...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor