Public Health Emergency to End in May

As most of you probably saw on the news recently, the Biden administration announced plans to end the COVID public health emergency in May.

Under the Public Health Service Act of 1944, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can declare a disease outbreak – in this instance, COVID-19 – poses a public health crisis.

Public Health Declaration

With a public health emergency declaration, federal funding for free vaccines, testing and treatment, along with relaxed requirements for Medicaid and Medicare coverage continues for basically 90 days at a time, when either the emergency must be extended, or it will end. Since January 2020, the COVID public health emergency was extended 12 times, the most recent of which was January, 2023.

But now, by all indications, effective May 11, the public health emergency will finally be allowed to lapse.

Between February 2020 and September 2022, Medicaid enrollments increased by nearly 20 million people, primarily due to economic conditions, Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act in several states and the continuous enrollment provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). With the potential ending of the public health emergency, the more open rules for Medicaid coverage will cease and it is estimated that between 5 million and 14 million people in the U.S. will lose their Medicaid coverage.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit organization that focuses on national health issues, “While the share of individuals disenrolled across states will vary due to differences in how states prioritize renewals, it is expected that the groups that experienced the most growth due to the continuous enrollment provision — ACA expansion adults, other adults, and children — will experience the largest enrollment declines.”

As the KFF goes on to the say in a very informative article about the end of the public health emergency, “Efforts to conduct outreach, education and provide enrollment assistance can help ensure that those who remain eligible for Medicaid are able to retain coverage and those who are no longer eligible can transition to other sources of coverage.” continued on next page