1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Section 1135 Waivers and COVID-19: An Overview March 25, 2020 In response to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States, both Congress and the Trump Administration have acted to confro
2、nt the challenges of providing health care to sick patients. These efforts have included the provision of certain regulatory flexibilities for health care entities under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5). To address the difficulties of providing health care in exigent circu
3、mstances, Section 1135 generally authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS Secretary) to waive or modify specified statutory and regulatory requirements related to the provision of health care services under the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Childrens Health Insurance (CHIP) program
4、s (so-called “Section 1135 waivers”). In recent years, the HHS Secretary has issued Section 1135 waivers several times, most commonly for natural disasters. This Legal Sidebar summarizes Section 1135 and recent legislative and administrative developments relating to this authority. Legal Framework T
