The declaration of a COVID-19 public health emergency three years ago changed the lives of millions of Americans by offering increased health care coverage, beefed-up food assistance and universal access to coronavirus vaccines and tests.
Much of that is now coming to an end, with President Joe
Biden’s administration saying it plans to end the emergency declarations on May
11.
Here’s a look at what will stay and what will go once the
emergency order is lifted:
COVID-19 TESTS, TREATMENTS AND VACCINES
The at-home nasal swabs, COVID-19 vaccines as well as their
accompanying boosters, treatments and other products that scientists have
developed over the last three years will still be authorized for emergency use
by the Food and Drug Administration once the public health emergency is over.
But how much people pay for certain COVID-related products
may change.
Insurers will no longer be required to cover the cost of
free at-home COVID-19 tests.
Free vaccines, however, won’t come to an end with the public
health emergency.
“There’s no one right now who cannot get a free vaccine or
booster,” said Cynthia Cox, vice president at Kaiser Family Foundation. “Right
now all the vaccines that are being administered are still the ones purchased
by the federal government.”
But the Biden administration has said it is running out of
money to buy up vaccines and Congress has not budged on the president’s
requests for more funding.
Many states expect they can make it through the spring and
summer, but there are questions around what their vaccine supply will look like
going into the fall — when respiratory illness typically start to spike, said
Anne Zink, the president of the The Association of State and Territorial Health
Officials.
“We’re all anxious to find out more about that,” Zink said.
MEDICAID
Medicaid enrollment ballooned during the pandemic, in part
because the federal government prohibited states from removing people from the
program during the public health emergency once they had enrolled.
The program offers health care coverage to roughly 90
million children and adults — or 1 out of every 4 Americans.
Late last year, Congress told states they could start
removing ineligible people in April. Millions of people are expected to lose
their coverage, either because they now make too much money to qualify for
Medicare or they’ve moved. Many are expected to be eligible for low-cost
insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s private marketplace or their
employer.
STUDENT LOANS
Payments on federal student loans were halted in March 2020
under the Trump administration and have been on hold since. The Biden
administration announced a plan to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student
loan debts for individuals with incomes of less than $125,000 or households
with incomes under $250,000.
But that forgiveness plan — which more than 26 million
people have applied for — is on pause, thrown into legal limbo while awaiting a
ruling from the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department initially argued that the Secretary
of Education has “sweeping authority” to waive rules relating to student
financial aid during a national emergency, per the 2003 HEROES Act that was
adopted during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A Biden administration official told The Associated Press
Tuesday that ending the health emergencies will not change the legal argument
for student loan debt cancellation, saying the COVID-19 pandemic affected
millions of student borrowers who might have fallen behind on their loans
during the emergency.
The pause on student loan payments is expected to end 60
days after the Supreme Court ruling.
IMMIGRATION AT THE BORDER
Border officials will still be able to deny people the right
to seek asylum, a rule that was introduced in March 2020 as COVID-19 began its
spread.
Those restrictions remain in place at the U.S.-Mexico
border, pending a Supreme Court review, regardless of the COVID-19 emergency’s
expiration. Republican lawmakers sued after the Biden administration moved to
end the restrictions, known as Title 42, last year. The Supreme Court kept the
restrictions in place in December until it can weigh the arguments.
The end of the emergency may bolster the legal argument that
the Title 42 restrictions should no longer be in place. The emergency
restrictions fell under health regulations and have been criticized as a way to
keep migrants from coming to the border, rather than to stop the spread of the
virus.
TELEHEALTH
COVID-19′s arrival rapidly accelerated the use of
telehealth, with many providers and hospital systems shifting their delivery of
care to a smartphone or computer format.
The public health emergency declaration helped hasten that
approach because it suspended some of the strict rules that had previously
governed telehealth and allowed doctors to bill Medicare for care delivered
virtually, encouraging hospital systems to invest more heavily in telehealth
systems.
Congress has already agreed to extend many of those
telehealth flexibilities for Medicare through the end of next year.
FOOD ASSISTANCE
Relaxed rules during the COVID-19 public health emergency
made it easier for individuals and families to receive a boost in benefits
under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Some
state and congressional action has started to wind down some of that. Emergency
allotments — typically about $82 a month, according to the Food Research and
Action Center — will come to an end as soon as March in more than two dozen
states.
Food help for unemployed adults, under the age of 50 and
without children, will also change after the public health emergency is lifted
in May. During the emergency declaration, a rule that required those
individuals to work or participate in job training for 20 hours per week to
remain eligible for SNAP benefits was suspended. That rule will be in place
again starting in June. SNAP aid for more low-income college students will also
draw down in June.
STATE COVID EMERGENCIES
At least a half-dozen states — including California,
Delaware, Illinois, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Texas — have some form of
COVID emergency declaration or disaster order still in place. But those orders
have limited practical effect.
New Mexico’s public health emergency, which has been
extended through Friday, advised health care facilities to abide by federal
coronavirus requirements. Delaware has continued to operate under a “public
health emergency,” which has suspended staffing ratios in long-term care
facilities.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has said his
emergency order will end Feb. 28. Newsom has issued 596 specific orders, from
stay-at-home mandates to tax-filing extensions, during the pandemic. Most have
expired, but he plans to ask lawmakers make two into permanent laws — one
letting nurses order and dispense COVID-19 medication and another allowing lab
workers to solely process coronavirus tests.
MONEY FOR HOSPITALS
Hospitals will take a big financial hit in May, when the
emergency comes to an end. They’ll no longer get an extra 20% for treating
COVID-19 patients who are on Medicare.
The end to those payments comes at a time when many
hospitals are under financial pressure, struggling with workforce shortages and
dealing with the pain of inflation, said Stacey Hughes, the executive vice
president at the American Hospitals Association. -AP
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