US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) before receiving a second COVID-19 booster vaccination in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, US, March 30, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The Biden administration plans to end the Covid public health emergency this spring, which will mark a major turning point in the US response to pandemic.
The White House, in a statement Monday, said it would terminate on May 11 both the public health emergency and the national emergency declared by the Trump administration in 2020.
The statement from the Office of Management and Budget came in response to two pieces of legislation introduced by House Republicans seeking to end both emergency declarations.
OMB said abruptly ending the emergency declarations in the way laid out in the Republican legislation would “create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system.”
The emergency declarations have enabled hospitals and nursing homes to respond more flexibly when faced with spikes in patient volume during Covid surges.
Enrollment in Medicaid has also surged during the public health emergency because Congress basically barred states from disenrolling people from the program.
A provision in federal spending legislation passed in December allows states to start disenrolling people from Medicaid again in April.
OMB said ending the declarations without giving hospitals time to adjust would likely lead to “disruptions in care and payment delays, and many facilities around the country will experience revenue losses.”
It would also “sow confusion and chaos” in the process of winding down the Medicaid coverage protections, OMB said. The Republican legislation has no chance of becoming law.
The Trump administration first declared a public health emergency in response to Covid in January 2020 and then declared a national emergency the following March.
The public health emergency has been extended every 90 days across both the Trump and Biden administrations.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
