By Maggie Carey
WKTV Contributor
As of February 2023, the Biden Administration, in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have plans to end the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 by May of 2023.
This will impact Kent County and its residents and the Kent County Health Department (KCHD) is continuing to learn more about the extent of these new measures but this is what is known so far:
How is COVID viewed now?
Even though the Public Health Emergency is being lifted, that does not mean that COVID-19 is no longer a health risk to you or your family. But, COVID-19 is not dramatically impacting the lives of millions each day as were reported in the months of 2020 and 2021. This is due to most of the population having some form of protection from the virus either from vaccinations or prior infections giving immunity.
Preventative measures such as at-home COVID-19 tests may no longer be covered by insurance. Under the Public Health Emergency, insurance companies were required to reimburse up to eight at-home tests per month for residents. Once the Public Health Emergency ends, insurers will be able to choose if they will reimburse those costs or not. For those on Medicaid, at-home tests and PCR tests ordered by a physician, will remain free until September 2024.
It is not recommended that individuals stock up on multiple tests due to the short shelf life of at-home tests. Rather the recommendation is to pick up one or two tests before the month of May.
What happens if you test positive for COVID?
As of March 9, 2023, if you have a confirmed positive test for COVID-19 is it recommended that you isolate yourself and stay home to rest, stay away from others, and recover. According to the CDC, Isolation should last for at least five days and then another test is recommended and if it comes back negative you may end isolation and if positive continue to isolate until a negative test is produced.
Access to vaccines and treatments like Paxlovid will still be available but may no longer be free. COVID-19 vaccines and boosters will still be available at no out-of-pocket cost for those with private insurance as long as they receive those entities from an in-network provider. Medicare and Medicaid will continue to provide vaccine coverage.
Paxlovid, an oral treatment by Pfizer for COVID-19, will continue to be available and covered for people who have private health insurance. Paxlovid will be available for those on Medicaid until supplies last and there may be a change in out-of-pocket costs.
Telemedicine care
If an individual utilizes telemedicine (virtual visits with a doctor or healthcare provider) and receives written prescriptions via telemedicine appointments, those services will no longer be available after May 11, 2023. Individuals will be required to make in-person appointments for prescriptions after May 11, 2023.
For those on Medicare, recipients will still have access to extended telehealth services until the end of 2024.
How the pandemic has impacted health systems in Grand Rapids
A report from Grand Valley State University found that close to 40% of individuals delayed care in the United States during the pandemic. Erkmen Aslim, an assistant professor of economics for the Seidman College of Business and co-author of the report states that “delaying care not only increases morbidity and mortality risk associated with treatable and preventable disease, but it can also contribute to excess deaths directly or indirectly related to the pandemic.”
This report also found an unusual increase in outpatient visits to Grand Rapids hospitals while other regions had a decrease in outpatient visits during the pandemic. Daniel Montanera, another co-author of Health Check and assistant professor of economics at Seidman, theorized that Grand Rapids became a magnet for people from the Detroit area who couldn’t or wouldn’t visit hospitals that were grappling with spikes in COVID-19.
The Public Health Emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has created change for our American healthcare systems and even though it is coming to an end, new information and updates related to COVID-19 will be available for residents through the Kent County Health Department for the foreseeable future.
Additional information and updates related to COVID-19 will also be readily available through the CDC’s COVID information website.
