Costs To Rise As COVID-19 Public Health Crisis Ends, Here's What's Next In CT

CONNECTICUT — The state's COVID-19 public health emergency, enacted by Gov. Ned Lamont on March 10, 2020, expires Thursday.

The sunset of the Connecticut declaration coincides with the end of the federal emergency health measures. On Jan. 30 of this year, the Biden Administration announced its intent to end public health emergency declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11.

The shift Thursday comes less than a week after the World Health Organization declared an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency.

With COVID-19 officially stripped of its health emergency status, the emergency powers granted to the governor, providing the state's Executive Branch more flexibility and leeway when crafting regulations in the pandemic, also expire.

So… now what?

Speaking with reporters at a news conference Wednesday, Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani emphasized that "COVID is part of our society," and "not going away."

But neither will its treatment nor testing be without cost for much longer:

"We are emerging from the federal response, where vaccines were free, where medications were free, where everything related to COVID was essentially covered, to integrating that within the regular health care delivery system."

To that end, Connecticut’s remaining state-supported COVID-19 test sites, which are operating at four community health centers, will cease their services on June 30. The costs of PCR tests for the virus will begin moving toward traditional health care coverage, similar to the way it is handled for other respiratory illnesses. That means they will be covered fully or in part by a resident’s private insurance plan, publicly funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, or directly by consumers.

The costs of at-home, self-test kits for COVID-19 will also transition to traditional health care coverage. For a limited time, the federal government will continue to offer the ability of U.S. households to request a shipment of free self-test kits – which can be obtained by filling out a form online here. Be advised that the program is dependent on available supply and is likely to end soon.

As with tests for the virus, the free ride for COVID-19 vaccinations is likewise rolling to a gradual stop. The costs of receiving COVID-19 vaccines and boosters will begin transitioning to traditional health care coverage, similar to the way these are handled for other types of illnesses, and covered fully or in part by a patient’s private or public insurance plan, or directly by consumers.

DPH will end its mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic program, and its homebound vaccination program, on June 30. After this date, COVID-19 vaccines and boosters will be provided to homebound residents similar to the way the seasonal influenza vaccine and other preventative health care services are offered.

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The costs of receiving treatments for COVID-19 such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio will also begin transitioning to traditional health care coverage.

Program waivers for the Women, Infants, and Children Program will end August 9, that is, 90 days after the declarations are terminated.

The state will issue its final COVID-19 data report for the 2022-2023 respiratory viral disease season on June 1. From that point forward, COVID-19 testing, hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccination rates will get the same data reporting treatment as seasonal respiratory illnesses like the flu. The 2023-24 reporting period will begin on October 5, 2023, and end in late May or early June of 2024.