[ad_1]
US President Joe Biden told Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies to deal with COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned to normal nearly three years after it was first declared.
The move to end the declaration of a national and public health emergency will formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through the agency’s normal authority.
That’s because lawmakers have ended the emergency element that kept millions of Americans insured during the pandemic. Combined with the withdrawal of federal COVID-19 relief money, it will also shift the development of vaccines and treatments from the direct management of the federal government.
Biden’s announcement came in a statement opposing a resolution brought to the floor this week by House Republicans to end the emergency. House Republicans are also preparing to launch an investigation into the federal government’s response to COVID-19.
Then-President Donald Trump first declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency on March 13, 2020. The emergency has been repeatedly extended by Biden since taking office in January 2021, and will expire in a few months. The White House said Biden plans to extend both of them as quickly as possible until May 11.
The World Health Organization is preparing to decide whether to end the global emergency declaration of COVID-19 this week. But some doctors and researchers worry about what it means to fight a virus that still poses a serious threat.
“The end of the emergency declaration will create chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system – for the state, hospitals and doctors’ offices, and most importantly, for tens of millions of Americans,” the Office of Management and Budget wrote in the Statement of Administration Policy.
Congress has scaled back the reach of public health emergencies that have a direct impact on Americans, as political calls to end the declaration have grown. Lawmakers have resisted for months to meet the Biden administration’s request for billions more dollars to extend free COVID vaccines and tests. And the US$1.7 trillion spending package passed last year and signed into law by Biden ends the rule that prevents states from kicking people off Medicaid, a move that could see millions of people lose coverage after April 1.
The cost of the COVID-19 vaccine will also rise as the government stops buying it, with Pfizer-BioNtech saying it will charge US$130 per dose. Only 15 per cent of Americans have received the recommended, existing booster updates since last fall.
After the emergency expires, people with private insurance will have some out-of-pocket costs for vaccines, tests and treatment, while the uninsured will have to pay all of those costs.
The Legislature extended the flexibility of telehealth introduced as a result of COVID-19, leading health care systems across the country to routinely deliver care via smartphone or computer.
The Biden administration previously considered ending the emergency last year, but remained concerned about the possibility of a “winter bounce” in cases and giving enough time for providers, insurers and patients to prepare for the end.
A senior administration official said the three months until expiration would mark a transition period in which the administration would “begin a smooth process of operational flexibility from the declaration of a COVID-19 emergency.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the announcement before its release.
More than 1.1 million people in the US have died from COVID-19 since 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including about 3,700 last week.
The number of cases has fallen sharply since the winter holidays, and is below the level seen during the last two winters – even as the number of tests being conducted for the virus and reported to public health officials has decreased.
[ad_2]
Source link