President Barack Obama has declared the swine flu, or H1N1, a national emergency.
According to the White House, the president made the declaration Sunday to address the ongoing H1N1 flu pandemic by giving healthcare organizations the ability to react more rapidly to the spread of the virus.
Experts expect the H1N1 flu to move rapidly throughout the country, and a majority of states now have widespread influenza activity, the White House said.
The declaration gives authority to the Department of Health and Human Services to waive certain regulatory requirements for healthcare facilities in response the ongoing pandemic.
Under the declaration, healthcare facilities will be able to submit waivers to establish alternate care sites, modified patient triage protocols, patient transfer procedures and other actions that are allowed under fully implemented disaster operations plans.
Under federal law, healthcare facilities may petition the HHS for waivers only if the HHS secretary has declared a public health emergency and the president has declared a national emergency. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declared a swine flu public health emergency last April.
Under a national emergency, Sebelius can also waive requirements related to Medicare, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Past instances where the national emergency waiver was put to use were Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricanes Ike and Gustav in 2008 and North Dakota flooding in 2009.