Millions could lose health insurance when Covid emergency ends

The Biden administration is telling health-care providers to begin preparing for an end to the public health emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic nearly three years ago.

The change will have broad implications for Medicaid health insurance recipients and could significantly impact how hospitals and pharmacies operate.

How the U.S. manages Covid this fall and winter will provide crucial data on whether the emergency needs to remain in place, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters on a call earlier this month.

The Health and Human Services Department will give the public 60 days notice before lifting the public health emergency, Becerra said. His comments come after President Joe Biden claimed in September that the pandemic is over, though he said Covid still presents a health challenge.

Becerra renewed the emergency declaration until Jan. 11 last week as the U.S. presses ahead with a fall booster campaign, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told health-care providers in August to start preparing for a return to pre-pandemic rules as soon as possible.

The public health emergency, first declared by the Trump administration in January 2020, has been renewed every 90 days since Covid arrived in the U.S. and ravaged the country.

HHS has used its emergency powers to transform how healthcare is delivered in the U.S., support beleaguered hospitals, simplify access to vaccines at pharmacies and keep millions of Americans enrolled in public health insurance. The health emergency also allowed millions of people to receive increased food benefits through the federal government’s nutrition program.

When the public health emergency does end, HHS estimates up to 15 million people will be disenrolled from Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Nutrition experts fear millions of families will face a hunger cliff. Hospitals are concerned the end of pandemic flexibilities will compound a serious healthcare worker shortage. And pharmacies are warning that it could become more difficult for people to access vaccines.

“We’re in the third year of the pandemic. We’ve gone through hell. We’ve sacrificed. We’ve used all kinds of emergency powers,” said Lawrence Gostin, an expert on health law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

“So if you’re going to end all that, you have to end it in a transparent way honestly with the American public about what they gain and what they lose,” Gostin said.