Judith Chase says getting free, at-home COVID-19 tests from her Medicare coverage gave her piece of mind.

“As an elderly person, I want to protect myself," the Woodstock resident said.

But on May 11, Chase and all other Medicare patients, will have to start paying out of pocket for the tests. She’s unhappy about that.

“But this really sucks to be adjusting what we've gotten used to doing, because it's good for us and safe for the community," she said.

In April, President Joe Biden signed a congressional resolution to end the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11. Test-kit coverage for Medicare recipients is set to expire that same day.

Medicaid recipients will have access to free test kits until September 24.

Neal Smoller, pharmacist at Woodstock's Village Apothecary, said the policy change will affect those most vulnerable to COVID.

“Not having readily available and free tests means that they're going to have to go out of pocket, which means it's going to be less likely that they use them, and then they're going to be flying blind," he said. "And that's scary to me.”

Smoller would like to see state or federal officials extend the coverage at least for Medicare recipients.

“Some sort of coverage for these tests or continuing these programs would be great," he said. "But it does not look like that that's in the cards at all.”

With the expiration around the corner, folks like Chase will need to start paying herself for tests. Now, she’ll rely on her pharmacist to help her get through it.

“I'm going to depend on Neal to point me in the right direction," she said. "He hasn't failed me yet.”