On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States issued a proclamation that the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States constitutes a national emergency by the authorities vested in him by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and consistent with section 1135 of the Social Security Act (Act).

On March 13, 2020, pursuant to section 1135(b) of the Act, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services waived or modified certain requirements of titles XVIII, XIX, and XXI of the Act as a result of the consequences of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (previously referred to as 2019-nCoV, now as COVID-19) pandemic.

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, has declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico, and has authorized the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to exercise authority under section 1135 of the Social Security Act to waive certain requirements of the Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs during the emergency period.

CMS response to North Carolina's requests for waivers and flexibilities to address the impacts of Hurricane Dorian

This letter is in response to your August 31, 2019 request for flexibility with respect to the federal requirements that posed issues for the Florida health care delivery system in the regions most effected by Hurricane Dorian.

In a letter dated September 4, 2019, for those providers not already enrolled with another State Medicaid Agency or Medicare, CMS waived certain screening requirements so North Carolina may provisionally, temporarily, enroll the providers.

In a letter dated September 3, 2019, for those providers not already enrolled with another State Medicaid Agency or Medicare, CMS waived certain screening requirements so Georgia may provisionally, temporarily, enroll the providers.

In a letter dated September 3, 2019, for those providers not already enrolled with another State Medicaid Agency or Medicare, CMS waived certain screening requirements so South Carolina may provisionally, temporarily, enroll the providers.