3-Day Hospital Stay Waiver In Effect Through End of Public Health Emergency

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Kari Everson

The policy enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic waiving the requirement for a 3-day prior hospitalization for coverage of a SNF stay remains in effect.

In response to the regulatory flexibilities afforded by the public health emergency the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proactively issued blanket 1135 waivers. These waivers offer much-needed relief to healthcare settings during the public health emergency. An important component of those flexibilities is the 3-day hospital stay waiver for nursing homes.

There is a document CMS uses to track the various sunset dates of the 1135 waivers. As of the most recent update on Oct. 13, this 3-day waiver is still in place and will go through the end of the public health emergency.

The US Department of Health and Human Services took action to extend the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) for another 90 days, effective Oct. 13. The PHE will now be in place until January 11, 2023.