TULSA, Okla. — During the pandemic, two emergencies were declared. A national emergency and a public health emergency. Each one doing different things. Now, one of them has ended, and the other one isn't far behind.
The Chief Medical Officer with Utica Park Clinic told 2 News the national emergency pertains more so to healthcare regulations, whereas the public health emergency pertains more to the general public.
Dr. Jeffrey Galles said with the national emergency officially over, the average person won’t see a difference. He explains that emergency lifted regulations on the industry for them to move patients through the system quicker. All in an effort to keep up with the mass amounts of people.
Dr. Galles said what will have a big impact is the end of the public health emergency.
“They are going to see that they are going to have to pay for medications. They are going to have to pay for vaccines and testing kits," he said.
This will mean COVID vaccines, medication, and testing won’t be free anymore.
That’s something he’s said he’s going to have to take into consideration when advising a patient to get vaccinated or take a medication like paxlovid.
“I don’t know whether they can afford those medications or what their insurance costs will be," Dr. Galles said. "So I think there’s a lot of unknowns right now and a lot of the health plans haven’t shared information with us on what they will be charging for those items. If you don’t have insurance, it will be full out-of-pocket cost.”
He adds that inflation drives the cost. So he anticipated vaccines and medication to be expensive.
This means there could be people out there who won’t be able to afford these things.
In the meantime, Dr. Galles recommends those who need a booster take advantage of the free vaccine now.
Once the public health emergency expires on May 11, he said people should check the costs with their insurance before getting medication or vaccines.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
