Please consult again
On Thursday, May 11, the White House will officially end the COVID-19 public fitness emergency. This comes after California ended its own state of emergency in February.
The end of the federal public health emergency will have major effects on how other people in the U. S. do so. U. S. citizens access COVID care and how much they pay for it. But many of those changes likely wouldn’t apply to Californians, at least not to other people in safe health.
Read on to find out what you need to know about how your access to COVID care, such as vaccinations, booster reminders, loose tests, and remedies like Paxlovid, will replace, or possibly not replace, after May 11.
Go to:
You are wrong. There have just been several COVID states of emergency, locally, nationally, and internationally.
On February 28, California ended its own COVID state of emergency. The resolution was called the “symbolic end” of the pandemic in the state and “a resolution [that] will have little practical impact on the lives of most people. “The state announced that the order would be lifted in February, most of the six hundred pandemic-related orders Newsom had issued since March 2020 had been lifted. Many California cities still had their own states of emergency and have since lifted them.
On April 10, the federal national emergency ended early. That emergency order, which was separate from the federal public fitness emergency that ends this week, was also originally scheduled to expire May 11, but a bipartisan solution by Congress to end that order sooner than expected.
Late last week, on May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) ended the foreign COVID state of emergency, noting that each and every country now handles the coronavirus. He also advised that the United Nations withdraw its characterization of COVID as a “public fitness emergency of foreign interest,” which has been in office since January 2020.
No, at least not for other people with fitness insurance in California, adding other people with Medi-Cal and Medicare. (Skip straight into how you’ll be affected if you don’t have insurance in California. )
It’s true that ending those national emergencies will have significant effects on national investment for COVID vaccines and testing. This means that in other states, other people with health insurance will find that their insurers no longer have to cover the costs of COVID care such as testing. and treatment
But California has enacted several that require insurers to continue to cover COVID care even after state and federal states of emergency end (more on that below).
COVID vaccines will be available to the fullest for others with insurance for all of the U. S. U. S.
Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, promised that COVID vaccines would be released in the U. S. It is used in the U. S. for policyholders as a preventive service covered by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.
In California, Senate Bill 510 requires California insurers to continue to cover COVID costs such as and vaccination after the national public fitness emergency ends anyway.
People in California with fitness insurance can get Paxlovid for free
Another California law, SB 1473, requires insurers to continue to cover the prices of COVID curative remedies like Paxlovid. This also applies to others on Medi-Cal and Medicare. This law only helps to keep the current situation in place for up to six months. after the end of the federal public fitness emergency on Nov. 11.
Click here for a prescription for Paxlovid.
People in California with fitness insurance can get reimbursed for COVID testing
SB 1473 also asks insurers to continue to reimburse their members for the costs of up to 8 over-the-counter COVID tests consistent with the month. This also applies to other people on Medi-Cal, again, this law is only in effect until November. 11
Find out how to get reimbursed for your COVID tests through your insurer.
If you see symptoms at your local pharmacy indicating that May 11 is your last chance of being reimbursed for COVID testing by your insurer, remember: If you live in California, that’s not accurate.
If you have Medicare Part B (health insurance), you can still get 8 over-the-counter COVID tests after May 11 covered by Medicare. This means that other people with Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) will lose access to those loose tests.
What happens after November 11? If you want Paxlovid or have your COVID tests reimbursed through uncertainty after that date, make sure you have those “connected” facilities.
Through 2020 state legislation, California introduced the state’s uninsured citizens to COVID testing, hospital care, and loose remedy through Medi-Cal providers for the pandemic, if they enrolled in the state’s uninsured COVID-19 group program, administered through the Department of Health Care. . But this program ends on May 31, 2023.
The state is now asking uninsured Americans who were enrolled in the Uninsured Group Program (PDF) to “apply for a comprehensive or inexpensive health policy through Medi-Cal or Covered California. “if you qualify for Medi-Cal or the Covered California policy.
State documents for uninsured states that California covers has a special enrollment era “due to the COVID-19 public fitness emergency. “This special registration era “will end 60 days after the last day of the month the public fitness emergency ends,” is July 30.
To register until the end of this special pandemic registration period, the state suggests visiting the cubiertoca. com/apply site and choosing “Pandemic (COVID-19)/Public Health Emergency” as an eligible life event from the “Special Registry. “Menu desplegable. menú. La date of your eligible life event must be the existing date. You can also enroll in Covered California if you have any other eligible life events.
Access COVID Vaccines in California When You’re Uninsured
The state Department of Health Services informs other uninsured individuals enrolled in its COVID-19 Uninsured Group Program that “After this program ends, you can still receive your vaccine (PDF),” and the California myturn. ca. gov vaccine site for more information.
The White House also promised that COVID vaccines will remain available to other uninsured people across the country, thanks to a program that Biden’s direction says is expected to be funded through the end of 2024.
Find Paxlovid and Other COVID Treatments in California When You’re Uninsured
Lately, uninsured Californians have several characteristics for getting a loose prescription for the COVID antiviral drug Paxlovid or other COVID therapies, adding Sesame Care, the state’s loose COVID telehealth service.
At this time, it is unclear how the end of the federal fitness emergency might affect the operation of this existing service. The California Department of Public Health has yet to respond to KQED’s repeated requests for the agency’s recommendation on how other uninsured people in California deserve to continue accessing their COVID care after May 11.
That said, the White House has promised that the same program that will fund free COVID vaccines for the uninsured through 2024 will also allow other uninsured people to get Paxlovid for free at the pharmacies involved.
Find COVID Testing in California When You’re Uninsured
The White House online page, covid. gov/tests, gives separate orders for loose COVID antigen testing for each family during the pandemic. You haven’t ordered loose tests since December 15, 2022, so you will receive your order for 4 more loose COVID tests as soon as possible.
Currently, there are still sites offering loose COVID checks in the state; check them out on myturn. ca. gov/checking using the “Free Sites” clear out app in the drop-down menu. It is not yet known how many of them will continue to operate in the coming months. For more concepts on how to locate a loose or cheap COVID check near you, check out our KQED guide.
At KQED News, we know it can be tricky to find the answers to navigating life in the Bay Area in 2023. We have published transparent and practical explanations and guides on COVID, how to deal with intense winter conditions, and how to exercise your right to protest safely.
Then tell us: what do you want to know more about? Tell us, and your query is likely to be answered online or on social media. What you submit will strengthen our reporting and help us cover here on our website as well as on KQED public radio.
To learn more about how we use your information, please read our Privacy Policy.