DES MOINES, Iowa – Kim Reynolds of Iowa and 24 other governors have sent a letter to President Biden asking him to end the Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE).
The PHE was first issued nearly three years ago in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has now been extended until January 2023. Governor Reynolds says that is despite President Biden declaring the pandemic over in mid-2022.
“We have come so far since the beginning of the pandemic—we now have the tools and information necessary to help protect Iowans from COVID-19,” says Governor Reynolds. “We have returned to life as normal and it is time the federal government’s policies reflected that.”
It has been reported that President Biden may extend the PHE again until April 2023. The letter from Reynolds and the other governors urges the President to let it expire in April:
“The PHE is negatively affecting states, primarily by artificially growing our population covered under Medicaid, regardless of whether individuals continue to be eligible under the program. Since the beginning of the pandemic, states have added 20 million individuals to the Medicaid rolls, an increase of 30-percent, and those numbers continue to climb as the PHE continues to be extended every 90 days.”
