The Biden administration will end the public health emergency for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on May 11.
Starting in early 2020, the emergency declaration, along with subsequent declarations, legislation and administrative actions, gave the federal government flexibility to waive or modify certain rules in the Medicare and Medicaid programs as well as in private health insurance. The goal has been to help the nation fight the worst public health crisis in a century and help some patients get care in a time of shutdowns.
As this long emergency period expires, experts say, the biggest impact for consumers will be the end of free coronavirus tests — both at-home tests and those performed by clinicians and analyzed by commercial labs — with broad implications for people’s ability to get timely COVID diagnoses, prevent disease transmission and track the virus.
Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.