The White House announced, on Monday, that it intends to officially end, in May, the state of health emergency that was declared 3 years ago with the outbreak of the Covid epidemic, in an indication that the federal authorities believe that the pandemic has moved to a new, less dangerous stage, according to a report published by the newspaper.The New York Times“.
And with the end of the federal national and public health states of emergency, which took effect in January of 2020, during the term of former President Donald Trump, the move carries “official weight and measurable consequences on the ground,” according to the report.
Millions of Americans enjoyed government support for Covid medicines, health insurances, and all forms of aid during the declaration of a state of emergency, but ending it may mean depriving them of those services.
The newspaper quoted US administration officials as saying that the White House plans to give hospitals, medical care providers and officials in the health sector several months to make the necessary changes.
Covid-19 disease is still the main cause of more than 500 deaths per day in the United States, twice the number of daily deaths recorded in acute influenza seasons, but the newspaper noted that the virus, coinciding with the third anniversary of declaring a state of emergency, is no longer a dominant part of Americans’ daily lives. As was the case at the beginning of its spread, and this is due to the fact that most of the population obtained some kind of protection, whether it was due to vaccinations or to having contracted the disease previously.
However, the White House insisted, in a statement, that an orderly transition out of the state of public emergency be provided by May 11, and a separate decision to end the national emergency would be announced on the same day.
The White House announcement came on the eve of a vote in the US House of Representatives to approve the “pandemic is over” bill, which is expected to immediately end the two states of emergency, and it is one of several pandemic-related bills that the House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, aspires to pass this week.
The White House statement came in response to the “pandemic is over” bill, as well as another measure to end the national emergency.
The New York Times suggested that the voting sessions and the White House’s response represent a “long-term political battle” in which Republicans in the House of Representatives and US administration officials are fighting over how the White House should deal with the pandemic.
The newspaper indicated that the House of Representatives would like to place the White House “in the field of defense”, to justify the huge spending that was allocated to combat the epidemic,
Louisiana Republican Representative Steve Scalise said: “Instead of waiting until May 11, the Biden administration should join us immediately to end this (public emergency) decision.”
He added, “The days when the Biden administration was allowed to hide behind Covid in order to waste billions in tax money to support its radical agenda that has nothing to do with reality, are over.”
For its part, however, the White House believes that the federal policies that were adopted to provide vaccines, free tests, and means of treatment contributed to controlling the outbreak of the epidemic, which was considered the third largest cause of death in the United States from 2020 until mid-2022, before it was now removed from the list. The first five ranks of the causes of death, according to what the newspaper quoted officials.
Since the approval of the state of public emergency, in 2020, it has been subject to renewal every three months, and the Biden administration has appealed to alert the US states two months before its end, and the decision was renewed for the last time at the beginning of January this year, and health officials in many states expected it to be allowed to end. By mid-April.
“complex changes”
The federal authorities provide a number of health insurance programs, the most famous of which are “Medicare” and “Medicaid”, according to what he said US Department of Health and Human Services websiteMedicare, a social security-linked program, focuses on providing health care to people age 65 and over, as well as those under 65 with disabilities or special health conditions.
Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides health insurance to some low-income people.
And the newspaper stated that ending the states of emergency, public and national, may lead to “complex changes” in the Covid tests and treatments that Americans used to get for free, noting that any changes in the means of payment may depend on whether they have private insurance, “Medicare” or Medicaid or if they don’t have any insurance at all, as this will depend on the state they live in.
However, the newspaper noted at the same time that these consequences may not be drastic, because the Medicaid service expanded during the pandemic to include low-income Americans as long as the state of public emergency was approved.
But the spending package approved by Congress last December “breaks that link,” according to the newspaper. Instead of setting a deadline to reduce states’ spending on Medicaid until April, states are likely to start removing Americans from Medicaid coverage in that. the month. That is, providing a transitional period that will gradually pave the way for the states, rather than suddenly depriving millions of poor people of health services.
At the same time, when the package was approved in December, Congress was able to re-employ what could be saved to fund health services under the Medici program for children, newborn mothers, and residents of American lands.
The package also contributed to the provision of online medical services “telehealth” for those covered by the “Medicare” program until 2024, which was considered a “basic life line” for many Americans during the pandemic, and this could have ended in ending the state of emergency.
But some services may seem expensive to Americans, especially those who do not have any health insurance. In the event of an emergency, they could get free tests, and insurance companies were forced to pay the costs of some subscribers, even if the service providers were outside their networks. Some Americans will be forced to pay for these tests.
Although people with private health insurance or Medicaid and Medicare programs can get vaccines for free, ending the state of emergency will mean forcing some Americans to pay for Covid treatments, such as Paxlovid, the antiviral. And hospitals will not receive more than Medicare for treating COVID-19 patients.
The deputy director of the “Kaiser Family” organization, Jennifer Cates, told the newspaper that the state of emergency ended the usual schism in the health insurance sectors in the United States, which contributed to more Americans obtaining services without which they would have been forced to pay for them.
She added that the White House’s decision may send a “wrong message” about Americans’ dealings with the virus, according to what the newspaper reported, “to the point that people may let their guard down day after day, and this will bring more challenges.”