On April 12, 2022 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an announcement on the extension of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) to be carried out for an additional 90 days. This will be the ninth extension of the PHE since its initial declaration on January 31, 2020.
This extension will be beneficial for Tribal communities and Tribal health care facilities in preparing for the end of the PHE which may be terminated on July 15, 2022.
The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) has released several comments and letters to various Federal Departments on funding, funding allocation and policy recommendations related to COVID-19 and American Indian and Alaska Native communities. The most recent comments NIHB has released on COVID-19 include the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the COVID-19 Supplemental Funding Distribution Report, as well as, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and their Vaccine Omnibus Final Rule.
Additional work NIHB Policy Center has done in relation to the Federal Government’s COVID-19 response can be found here.