“End of COVID-19 Federal Public Health Emergency: What it Means for Testing, Treatment and Data Collection”

NEW YORK — The federal public health emergency for COVID-19 is scheduled to end on Thursday, May 11, and with it comes the reality that CDC will have to work with less data to track the virus and its new variants. .

“The end of the public health emergency means that the CDC will have less authority to collect certain types of public health data, which means that less data will be available to us,” Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC, told reporters during a press conference. call earlier this month, CNBC reported.

Dr. Teresa Smith, an emergency physician at Kings County Hospital in New York City, says we’re in a place where we’ve learned to adapt, with vaccinations and other preventative measures like handwashing and testing, as well as treatment, such as Paxlovid, during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

At the end of the public health emergency, you will no longer see the city’s mobile testing sites. However, vaccination, testing and treatment will continue to be available by appointment at NYC Health + Hospitals locations.

New Yorkers will continue to have access to free home delivery of treatments like Paxlovid.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the health emergency declaration enacted by Governor Ned Lamont at the immediate onset of the pandemic on March 10, 2020 is scheduled to expire on Thursday, the same day the public health emergency declaration ends. federal.

Lamont’s statement helped the state executive branch use certain emergency powers to address the crisis, provide flexibility in health-related areas and ensure federal resources could be turned over to the state. Once the declaration expires, those powers also expire.

Below we explain what signifies the end of the COVID-19 federal public health emergency.

COVID-19 vaccines and certain treatments

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), access to COVID-19 vaccines and certain treatments, such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio, will not be affected.

However, according to HHS, once the federal government stops purchasing or distributing vaccines and treatments, this can affect payment, coverage, and access. But, in preparation for this transition, government partners are making plans for a smooth transition of COVID-19 vaccines and certain treatments to enter “the traditional healthcare market, which will occur in the coming months.”

“When that transition to the traditional healthcare market occurs, to protect families, the Administration has made it easier for nearly everyone to have access to COVID-19 vaccines at no out-of-pocket cost and will continue to ensure that effective COVID-19 treatments , such as Paxlovid, are widely accessible,” the HHS says, adding that “after the transition to the traditional health care market, out-of-pocket costs for certain treatments, such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio, can change, depending on an individual’s health coverage of care, similar to the costs one may experience for other covered drugs Medicaid programs will continue to cover COVID-19 treatments without cost sharing until September 30, 2024. After that, coverage and cost sharing may vary by state.

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Medicare and Medicaid Waivers

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CDC) used a combination of emergency authority waivers to expand access to care and provide providers with health care providers the flexibilities necessary to assist the public. States, hospitals, nursing homes, and others are currently operating under hundreds of these waivers. However, since this excess capacity is no longer needed, these exemptions, regulations, and sub-regulatory guidance will end.

For Medicaid, some of these additional public health emergency waivers and flexibilities will end on May 11. However, others will remain in effect for six months after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration.

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Change in coverage for COVID-19 testing

Although the change in coverage for COVID-19 tests will take place after the end of the public health emergency, the government is keeping reserves so that these tests remain accessible at no cost. In addition, the government will continue to distribute tests through COVIDtests.gov until the end of May.

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Data collection

Some COVID-19 data and surveillance reporting will change. This means that at the end of the public health emergency, HHS will no longer have the authority to request data from laboratories. This, in turn, will affect the reporting of negative test results and the calculation of positive COVID tests in some jurisdictions.

Shah acknowledged that disease surveillance in the US was inadequate during the pandemic and needs to be improved, CNBC reportedadding that unlike other wealthy nations, because of this country’s fragmented health care system, the authority to decide what disease data is reported rests largely with corporations, all 50 states, tribes and territories, not the CDC.

However, according to HHS, the CDC will continue to report data on COVID-19 trends.

FDA Limitations on Medical Product Shortages

With the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA will have limited ability to detect shortages of essential medical products. The administration is seeking authorization from Congress to extend the requirement for device manufacturers to notify the FDA of device discontinuations and discontinuations.