Health emergency.

I just read that the president have declared the H1N1 pandemic as a national health emergency. I am not entirely clear what this does but is seems to ease restrictions on health care providers when it comes to handling ill patients. I am assuming that for example if someone had Blue Cross North Carolina insurance and became ill that health care providers would be able to bypass some of the typical requirements placed on them by insurance providers and the government. This wouldn't mean a lower standard of care but rather that there would be less red tape and people would be able to receive the care they need in a more streamlined way. Again, I am just speculating here and would love to hear other interpretations of what this all means.