On April 10, 2023, President Biden signed H.J. Res. 7, ending the COVID-19 National Emergency on that same day. Earlier in the day on April 10, 2023, we had issued a News Alert reporting that the President intended to end both the COVID-19 National Emergency and the nationwide Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023, but also noting that the COVID-19 National Emergency might end earlier, if the President were to sign H.J. Res. 7 sooner than May 11, 2023.
Although H.J. Res. 7 ended the COVID-19 National Emergency on April 10, 2023, it did not also accelerate the end-date of the nationwide Public Health Emergency, which as of now is still May 11, 2023, but which also might be accelerated if the U.S. Senate were to approve and the President were to sign a U.S. House-approved bill, H.R. 382, the “Pandemic is Over Act.”
Our April 10, 2023 News Alert also noted that on March 29, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) had issued a set of FAQs, which among other things, described how certain normal timelines under COBRA, HIPAA and ERISA would resume under employee welfare benefit and retirement plans immediately after the anticipated July 10, 2023 end-date of the COVID-19 Outbreak Period (July 30, 2023 being the 60th day after the then-anticipated May 11, 2023 end-date of the COVID-19 National Emergency). According to some employee benefits commentators, sources within DOL have stated informally that the DOL presently intends to stick with its previous FAQs guidance and continue to toll COBRA, HIPAA and ERISA deadlines during a COVID-19 Outbreak Period ending on July 10, 2023, with normal deadlines resuming on July 11, 2023, despite H.J. Res. 7’s acceleration of the end-date of the COVID-19 National Emergency to April 10, 2023 from May 11, 2023. All we can say at this point is that formal clarifying guidance from the DOL would be most welcome. We will report on further developments as they arise.
