Biden is ending the Covid public health emergency. Here’s what that means for you.

When the federal Covid-19 public health emergency ends on May 11, it will be the end of an era for the American health system.

For more than three years, in a nation where patients usually pay more for health care than residents of any other high-income country, tests and vaccines were available to all Americans for free. Treatment was free for many people, too, including those without insurance.

Health care providers adapted on the fly, moving services to the computer or the phone in order to continue treating patients. Hospitals got an...