President Biden announces end to COVID-19 emergency declarations
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is ending treatment of COVID-19 as an emergency, restructuring how the federal government will respond to the pandemic entering its fourth year.
The administration plans to end both the national emergency and the public health emergency on May 11.
The announcement came in a message to Congress about bills House Republicans are considering this week to end such emergency declarations immediately.
The administration wants to wait until May to end the ER because Republicans’ “abrupt end” would create “large-scale chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system,” the White House said.
Tens of millions of Americans could be at risk of suddenly losing their health insurance and others could lose access to telehealth services. States could lose billions of dollars in additional funding they received, hospitals and nursing homes that relied on flexibilities wouldn’t have time to retrain staff and establish new billing procedures , according to the White House.
The GOP measures would also immediately end Title 42, the pandemic policy that allows the federal government to quickly deport migrants. This would cause a substantial additional influx of migrants to the southwestern border, the White House said.
A national emergency was first declared by President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020.
The Biden administration had said it would give states 60 days notice before ending the emergency.
States received additional Medicaid funding during the emergency in exchange for continued retention of patients in the co-funded healthcare program for low-income residents.
As a result, Medicaid enrollment increased by 30% and fewer Americans were uninsured.
In a massive spending bill passed in December, Democrats and Republicans agreed to allow states to kick people out of Medicaid starting in May.
At the end of the health emergency, people without insurance will have to pay for vaccines, tests and treatments themselves. Those with private insurance may incur costs.
COVID-19 vaccines are also expected to become more expensive as the government stops buying them.
About seven in ten Americans have received a first COVID vaccination, but less than 20% of adults have received the last booster.
Contribute: The Associated Press
USA Today
