Starting in April, millions of Americans who are enrolled in Medicaid despite being ineligible will be removed from the program with the ending of the federal government’s COVID-19 national emergency.
The national emergency declaration, signed into to law by former President Donald Trump in March 2020, allowed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive or modify some requirements for enrollment in Medicaid.
On March 29, the U.S. Senate voted 68–23 to terminate the emergency declaration. Of the 68 who voted in favor, 21 were Democrats.
Biden will reportedly not veto the bill, despite earlier opposition to the measure.
In a Jan. 30 Statement of Administration Policy (pdf), the Biden administration announced plans to extend the COVID-19 public health emergency to May 11. The reasoning was that an “abrupt end to the emergency declarations would create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system—for states, for hospitals and doctors’ offices and, most importantly, for tens of millions of Americans.”…