Aug 16, 2022 - Health

COVID public health emergency appears to be headed for extension

Adriel Bettelheim

President Biden, wearing a mask, walks out of the White House toward the Rose Garden. — Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration appears headed toward extending the COVID-19 public health emergency for another three months, allowing special powers and programs to continue past the midterm election.

Driving the news: HHS had extended the emergency declaration through Oct. 13 and pledged it would give states and health providers 60 days' notice before it ends.

Why it matters: Lifting the emergency would bring major policy shifts to insurance markets, drug approvals and telehealth.

It also keeps in place a higher share of federal Medicaid spending if states offered continuous coverage to enrollees, avoiding the program's usual churn.
Ending the emergency would lead states to determine whether their Medicaid enrollees are still eligible for coverage — a huge undertaking that could result in millions of Americans being removed from the program.

Where things stand: After a long plateau, the number of new COVID cases have been falling and wastewater surveillance data has shown declines for three straight weeks, per Evercore ISI.

And yet, about 400 Americans still die every day from COVID-19.

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COVID public health emergency appears to be headed for extension

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