How the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency is impacting people
The DayMay 20, 2023
Infection preventionist
Outside Fairview's walls, some haven't been wearing masks in months or years, and some scoff at public health emergencies lasting this long. But other disabled and immunocompromised people believe they are being left behind, wondering how they can stay protected in a system growing more scattershot.
The end of the emergencies means state-supported COVID-19 test sites will close
Another change is that people on Medicaid known in
Malone said if Fairview had a positive COVID case, the facility would resume masking on that floor or building, as masking guidelines overall are at the discretion of individual facilities. They can't rely on broader markers: the
"I think we have to shift our brains to thinking of masking (for) respiratory illnesses and not just COVID," Malone said.
Impact on insurance
Medicaid plans are still required to cover the cost of over-the-counter, at-home tests -- and COVID-19 treatments -- until
DuBois said the insurer continues to cover "prescribed COVID-19 testing and testing-related services as we do other diagnostic lab tests according to each member's plan." Anthem's website says a doctor must order a COVID-19 test, and "out of pocket costs may apply based on your plan."
Both Anthem and ConnectiCare will cover COVID-19 vaccines from in-network providers but not out-of-network ones.
ConnectiCare spokesperson
ConnectiCare, which offers plans on and off the state's Affordable Care Act exchange, will no longer cover at-home tests in most plans.
According to a news release from the
Impact on hospitals
"Are we seeing the amount of sick people we were seeing at the beginning? Absolutely not. But COVID still exists," said
But Dayton still sees a lot of things up in the air, such as whether nurses and others, for that matter will have to get a COVID-19 vaccine on an annual basis.
Her biggest concern now is workforce shortages, saying she doesn't know a nurse "who isn't working on an exit plan ... because the staffing is so horrible and the ratios are getting so bad."
She said she hopes the
But Chief Epidemiologist Dr.
Wu said when respiratory season comes around, or if a new coronavirus variant emerges, "we will probably return to masking policies." He said people with a respiratory illness are still tested for COVID-19, though testing is no longer mandatory upon admission or before a procedure.
"We do allow the physicians and practitioners to make that judgment; if they want to get a test they certainly can," Wu said.
For Lawrence +
Mayorga said effective
"I think Yale tends to be very conservative. However, I don't think that's a bad thing," he said. But he does understand it can be frustrating that different hospitals relaxed their policies at different times.
Filling in the gaps
"Some of the structural supports that were there under the emergency declaration are gone, but that just makes our work to serve and protect our community that much more important," said
Ledge Light covers
Muggeo said she hopes that people who can't find or afford a rapid test will call "so we can help them figure out a solution," as the health district continues to source supplies and has kits on-hand to distribute.
Muggeo said last week she hadn't received any calls with specific questions about the end of the public health emergency but thinks "there's probably some understandable confusion among community members in terms of what exactly it means."
She said it doesn't mean that people don't have to test or don't have to isolate if they test positive; "it's just the end of the extra structures, changes, allowances, (and) benefit programs that were put in place."
Muggeo said she does feel sad that a lot of energy and conversations the pandemic started about health equity and what public health is "have kind of dissipated, and yet there remain people in our community whose lives have been dramatically impacted."
One such person is
She is also executive director of the
"I was never in a rush to return to normal, because whatever normal is and I'm still not entirely sure that wasn't working for so many of the people I work with and already know," she said.
With a lot of other health conditions, she doesn't know if she'd survive another bout of COVID-19, and so she still wears masks to family parties and concerts. Flaherty said she doesn't care what people think or if they want to label it anxiety.
She questions whether enough is being done for ventilation and air quality. And while Flaherty thinks we're past the point of mandates, she wonders whether the government should consider more requirements in places where people have to be, commenting, "I really don't understand why we are willing to say to people: Yeah, you have to risk your health to get health care."
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