State, federal COVID-19 public health emergency orders to expire
New Mexico’s COVID-19 public health emergency will officially expire at the end of March, followed by the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency order on May 11. The national pandemic emergency ended March 1.
The lifting of the emergency has already begun to bring to an end several enhancements of safety-net programs that many New Mexicans have grown accustomed to, including increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, and automatic Medicaid renewals, for example.
At the beginning of the month, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that her March 3 renewal of the COVID19 executive order would be the final extension. It will remain in effect until March 31, then allowed to expire.
“While we’re still seeing COVID cases, our preparedness and collaborative work have helped turn a once-in-a-century public health emergency into a manageable situation,” Lujan Grisham said. “We are working diligently across state agencies to make sure New Mexicans continue to be supported as federal COVID programs wind down.”
The end of the national emergency and pending termination of the federal public health emergency order have been the subject of careful planning, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget, “because 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.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government approved increased payments known as SNAP emergency allotments to those receiving SNAP food assistance. Beginning in March 2023, all SNAP households nationally and in New Mexico returned to their regular benefit amount.
“Now more than ever, we encourage the public to support food banks, nonprofits, faith-based partners and others who have been serving the community non-stop even with the emergency allotments in place; HSD is working with these partners to continue helping families in need across the state,” Kari Armijo, interim acting secretary for the New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD), said in a press release.
During the SNAP emergency allotments, a family of three received $740 each month in food stamps benefits, the maximum benefit for a family of three. In March, with the end of extra SNAP benefits, a family of three will go back to receiving the average amount of $335 per month in regular benefits.
A one-person household who does not earn an income received $376 each month in SNAP benefits, which is the maximum benefit for one person. With the end of the emergency allotments, this household will now receive $281 in monthly benefits.
A spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Health told the Taos News that, beginning April 1, automatic Medicaid renewals will end, meaning Medicaid recipients will have to submit paperwork on a regular basis in order to continue to qualify for the free health insurance offered to low-income individuals and families.
“At present, COVID-19 vaccines and treatments (Paxlovid) are still free,” the spokesperson said. “The availability, access and costs of COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, are determined by the supply of federally purchased vaccines, and not the public health emergency.”
The end of the public health emergency in New Mexico will likely see the state rely more on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 data, a trend that began last year. The state’s vaunted COVID-19 Modeling Team, which relied on Los Alamos National Labs personnel and tools to help it produce some of the most detailed and thorough data available in the country during the worst years of the pandemic, was disbanded in January.
“The [state] Department of Health currently reports daily and weekly on COVID data and will continue to evaluate the cadence of reporting as the public health emergency winds down,” the department spokesperson said.
Dr. Cipry Jaramillo, chief of staff at Holy Cross Medical Center, said that, as the public health emergency winds down, the hospital is seeing far fewer patients complaining of respiratory ailments.
“Fortunately, HCMC has not been overwhelmed by patients with viral illnesses,” Jaramillo said. “We have had a few COVIDpositive patients, as well as other respiratory viral illnesses, but nothing that is out of the ordinary. After the last two years, that is a welcome relief.
“We will continue to require masking in all patient care areas until the end of March, at which time we will reassess this policy,” Jaramillo added. “We are also currently testing all patients that are admitted to the hospital; this policy may change as well.”