What to expect when the COVID-19 public health emergency finally ends
Jessica Dobrinsky
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On May 11, the nation will finally welcome the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The move comes more than three years after much of the nation went into effective hibernation, forced to work at home (if employees kept their jobs) and social distance from friends and family.
President Joe Biden on Jan. 30 told Congress that he will end both the COVID-19 national emergency and the public health emergency that have been in place since the final year of the Trump administration. That sets up a post-May 11 transition of the nation’s COVID-19 response to the private sector.
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Biden made the move as the new House Republican majority, through a pair of bills, pushed to take COVID-19 emergency responses off the books. The proposals stood virtually no chance of becoming law since Senate Democrats hold that majority chamber and Biden would have vetoed the proposals if they ever made it that far.
Still, it’s instructive to look at what the House Republican COVID-19 bills aimed to do. Biden’s ending of the public health national emergency largely dovetails with them and has had much the same effect.
Despite opposition from the White House, the Pandemic is Over Act and the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act both passed the House, where Republicans hold a slim 222-213 majority. The Pandemic is Over Act would end the public health emergency first declared by the Department of Health and Human Services in early 2020. The Freedom for Health Care Workers Act would seek to end the vaccine mandate for employees at some health facilities. While the Pandemic is Over Act followed party lines, votes for the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act had assistance from some Democrats, passing 227-203.
Shortly thereafter, Biden, maintaining opposition to the two legislative bills, announced his intent to end the national public health emergency on May 11. And that shows public opinion is largely on the side of House Republicans for COVID-19, including the origins of the virus. Many lawmakers are deeply skeptical of some of the nation’s scientists regarding pandemic responses and are planning a series of committee investigations into the Biden administration’s pandemic response.
The Biden administration’s decision to expire the COVID-19 emergency indicates a new phase of the pandemic, one that is less dire and provides hope for a future beyond the illness. But big changes are on the way for those still interested in preventive measures.
Through the health emergency, the government was authorized to provide many people with various precautionary measures free of charge, along with increased social safety nets. The end of the emergency means the federal government will cease offering free at-home COVID-19 tests through insurance, incentivizing some to stock up on free tests that may be available prior to the end of the emergency. At the conclusion of the declaration, those with private insurance will be required to pay full price for at-home tests.
However, those with private insurance will still be exempt from payment for vaccination as long as they obtain it from in-network providers. Those covered by Medicare, however, due to the CARES Act, will still be able to obtain free COVID-19 vaccines but, like those with private insurance, will be responsible for covering the full cost for at-home tests.
Medicaid beneficiaries, on the other hand, will be able to access free testing until 2024 due to provisions in the American Rescue Plan and free vaccinations provided through authorizations in the Inflation Reduction Act, though those with no insurance may become reliant on public health programs to receive tests and vaccinations.
The ending of the emergency orders in May might also have interesting implications for the Biden administration’s plan to forgive $20,000 in student loan debt. Relief was based on the HEROES Act, which allowed the Department of Education to modify provisions of student loan programs during national emergencies. While the move has already faced legal challenges, the end of the emergency may create a roadblock in the president’s own agenda. Student loans, which were paused again until June, may be set to return sooner than some may have anticipated. But the Department of Education has maintained that the relief will remain after the emergency ends.
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COVID-19 cases continue to decline across the nation, but some worry that the end of the emergency may let individual guards down.
In September 2022, Biden announced that “the pandemic is over.” Now, it’s time to see if the Biden administration’s actions match its rhetoric.