U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Extends Public Health Emergency

January 26, 2021

Effective January 21, the outgoing Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extended the national public health emergency (PHE) through April 21, 2021. That means that all telehealth and other waivers and flexibilities that have been implemented during the PHE will remain in effect until at least that date. The ABA Coding Coalition encourages providers and billers to check with health plans about extending telehealth coverage of ABA services to correspond to the extended duration of the PHE. Coalition resources such as the Model Coverage Policy and Reporting CPT Codes for Telehealth Delivery, along with APBA’s guidelines for practicing ABA during the pandemic and CASP’s practice parameters for telehealth, may be helpful for advocating with payers to continue authorizing telehealth delivery of ABA services and to include all of the CPT codes for ABA services in their telehealth policies.