The Biden administration announced in January that the emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic is set to end on May 11, which will cause a significant shift in how healthcare is dispersed in the country. During the pandemic, African American and Hispanic families were left uninsured, and rates fell by up to 19 percent in several states, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s report.
“Despite this progress, key health outcomes such as life expectancy and maternal mortality have worsened during the pandemic, particularly for people of color,” the report stated. “Achieving full equity in insurance coverage is critical to reversing those trends, particularly since certain COVID-19 treatment and testing benefits are scheduled to sunset when the public health emergency ends in May.”
The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that up to 15 million Medicaid and other health aid enrollees could lose coverage after the public health emergency. About 6.8 million people may lose coverage despite still being eligible.
Lauren Hagans, an Atlanta-based insurance specialist with SDH Insurance Company, has advocated for equal healthcare access for over eight years. She shares how this shift may affect some communities, but it isn’t the end of the road.
How important is having full coverage health insurance?
I often compare health insurance to car insurance; you only need it once you need it. Some people say, “Oh, I don’t need it; I haven’t gotten into an accident,” until you’re injured with medical bills that pile up. I always say it’s better to have health insurance to stay covered, so you don’t have any surprises or issues if something does happen. It is imperative for people over the age of 26 since you can’t be on your parent’s policy or over 65 and don’t qualify for Medicare. There have been so many options for health insurance since Obama rolled out Obama care.
What requirements are needed to purchase a policy?
I want to say, the study refers to Medicaid, so people needed insurance once they got COVID and didn’t have the right coverage. Insurance is within a certain income threshold, those rules were thrown away during the pandemic, and will change once the state of emergency is over. We are all rolling out new programs for people to get new policies, and companies are extending the enrollment deadline with all that is happening.
