Public health emergency still in place for now; ending the emergency declaration would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response
The United States Senate on March 29, 2023 voted 68-23 to pass a Republican Party-led resolution ending the COVID national emergency, according to media reports. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the Bill. However, this might not mean the end of the public health emergency (PHE) in the country.
The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were declared by the Trump administration in 2020. On January 30, 2023, the Joe Biden administration extended the emergency declarations till May 11 and proposed ending both emergencies on that date.
On March 29, 2023, the US reported 139,991 cases of COVID-19, according to the website of government health agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll due the respiratory disease stands at 1,125,366 and about 16 per cent of the population have taken an updated booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The move to end the emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response. The virus would be treated as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies’ regular authorities, according to a report by website Zee News.
The House passed a joint resolution of Congress in February 2023 to end the national emergency immediately. The Senate, on March 29, voted in favour of the resolution without amendment. If and when President Biden signs the Bill, only the national emergency over SARS-CoV-2 will end.
The Biden administration statement on January 30 said it “strongly opposes enactment of HR 382 and HJ Res 7, which would be a grave disservice to the American people.” HJ Res 7 deals with ending the national emergency and HR 382 with ending the PHE.
The President generally has 10 days to decide whether or not to sign legislation, including a joint resolution of Congress. President Joe Biden will not veto a GOP-led effort to end the COVID-19 national emergency, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (New York’s Senator) told Democratic senators on March 29, 2023, reported the daily The Hill.
The resolution’s approval in the Senate highlights bipartisan agreement that the US has emerged from the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some disagreement remains over when to make the move official, reported the website US News.
“There is no reason to wait to end the COVID-19 National Emergency Declaration. The Senate is now voting on my HJ Res 7, which would end this madness,” Republican Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, the sponsor of the Bill, tweeted on March 30.
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) March 30, 2023
My bill H. Res. 7 just got signed by @SpeakerMcCarthy. With the full support of the conference & help from @SteveScalise, Leadership has been on a roll. Republicans are leading the nation back to sanity.
Say goodbye to the National Pandemic Emergency Order & the nonsense it created. pic.twitter.com/Rn7a3XYpc3
If the Bill comes to Biden’s desk, “he will sign it, and the administration will continue working with agencies to wind down the national emergency with as much notice as possible to Americans who could potentially be impacted,” a White House official was quoted as saying by US News.
If the President signs the resolution, the US government would get one less month to roll back extended deadlines for filing claims for health insurance programmes under Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and flexible spending accounts, that help many employees pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses with tax-free dollars, reported news outlet Axios.
The relaxations for Medicare and Medicaid programmes might also end a month earlier.
Ending the PHE lies in the hands of US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, reported the website of global law firm Dentons.
The termination of the PHE and associated HHS waiver authorities would result in an unexpected early loss of Medicare and Medicaid flexibilities, making it unlikely that Becerra will end it early, the law firm said.
Ending of PHE will mean several changes in the healthcare system. Hospitals will no longer be able to provide services to patients in their homes, like partial hospitalisation services.
Read more: COVID origins debate: What to make of new findings linking the virus to raccoon dogs
Flexibilities regarding face-to-face requirements and telehealth, National Coverage Determination, medical education and others for healthcare institutions like hospices and home health agencies would also come to an end.
“If the PHE were suddenly terminated, it would sow confusion and chaos into this critical wind-down. Due to this uncertainty, tens of millions of Americans could be at risk of abruptly losing their health insurance, and states could be at risk of losing billions of dollars in funding,” White House’s January 30 statement said.
Additionally, hospitals and nursing homes that have relied on flexibilities enabled by the emergency declarations will be plunged into chaos without adequate time to retrain staff and establish new billing processes. This will likely lead to disruptions in care and payment delays, and many facilities around the country will experience revenue losses, it had added.
The end of PHE also means an end to Title 42, a controversial immigration policy implemented by the Trump administration to allow for the expulsion of foreign nationals at the border for public health reasons, the statement had further said.
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The United States Senate on March 29, 2023 voted 68-23 to pass a Republican Party-led resolution ending the COVID national emergency. @SpeakerMcCarthy / Twitter.png)
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