Archived Insight | April 20, 2021

HHS Extends the National Public Health Emergency into July

Effective April 21, 2021, the federal government extended the COVID-19 public health emergency. That means the public health emergency will last for at least an additional 90 days, until July 20, 2021.

National Public Health Emergency extended into July

This is the fifth extension of the emergency, which the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services initially declared on January 31, 2020 (retroactive to January 27, 2020). The secretary could terminate the public health emergency earlier than July 20, 2021 or extend it again.

This public emergency declaration is important to health plan sponsors because it determines the period of time during which group health plans and insurers must pay for COVID-19 tests and related services without charging cost sharing. In addition, non-grandfathered plans must cover vaccines in network as a preventive benefit, but during the public emergency must also cover them on an out-of-network basis.

Have questions about how the emergency declarations affect your health plan?

We have answers

Get in Touch

See more insights

2025 ATC IT Summit Tennessee

ConnectivITy: Bridging Ideas. Bolstering Innovation. Building Connections.

Take your health and pension plan operations and IT to the next level and learn about the challenges facing benefit organizations today.
Multi Generation And Ethnic Group Of Colleagues At Meeting

Personal and Well-Timed Benefits Communications Are Powerful

Personalized benefits messaging — tailored to individual needs — increases employee engagement. Get the three steps to making communications personal.
Two Female Colleagues Reviewing A Document At The Office

Final Catch-Up Contribution Rule Provides Some Relief

The Treasury Department’s new catch-up contributions rule on gives retirement plan sponsors time and flexibility with SECURE 2.0’s Roth requirements.

This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or investment advice. You are encouraged to discuss the issues raised here with your legal, tax and other advisors before determining how the issues apply to your specific situations.