On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced the U.S. and Cuba will officially reopen their respective embassies by the end of July, ending a nearly six-decade impasse that began at the height of the Cold War. “We don’t have to be imprisoned by the past,” the president told reporters. “When something isn’t working, we can — and will — change.” Though the United States’ economic embargo against Cuba remains in place, and can only be lifted by an act of Congress, the diplomatic normalization could have a major impact on medical care in both countries.