covid-19
U.S. House panel probes extent of fraud in federal COVID-19 relief programs
WASHINGTON — From 2020 to 2022, a group of Minnesotans pretended to be serving meals to low-income children, all the while filing for reimbursement under a federal COVID-19 relief program aimed to buoy child nutrition as schools and childcare centers closed. In all, the schemers defrauded the government of $250 million, the Minnesota Reformer reported. […]
Washington medical board charges Dr. Ryan Cole with COVID-19 related violations
Dr. Ryan Cole of Idaho has until Jan. 30 to respond to charges from the Washington Medical Commission that he violated standards related to COVID-19 and patient care. Cole, a pathologist whose specialty does not involve direct patient-care experience, has maintained that he didn’t violate any standards while treating patients for COVID-19 via telehealth. The […]
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders reverses predecessor’s position on mask mandates
The Arkansas governor’s office asserts that it is unconstitutional for public entities to require people to wear masks as a COVID-19 prevention measure, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Wednesday, just over a week after taking office. Sanders’ predecessor, fellow Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, signed a 2021 law prohibiting state and local governments, including public school […]
UAMS makes two interim leaders official
Two interim officials at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have been appointed to their positions permanently, UAMS announced in a Tuesday news release. Dr. Michelle Krause is the senior vice chancellor for the UAMS Health System and CEO of the system’s 535-bed hospital. Dr. Ahmed Abuabdou is the hospital’s chief clinical officer. Both […]
Sanders executive order repeals COVID-19 committees, advisory groups from 2020
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders eliminated five state entities on Friday that her predecessor Gov. Asa Hutchinson created via executive order to address the COVID-19 pandemic almost three years ago. Sanders’ own executive order repealed five orders she called “obsolete” in a statement. The order also asks the Arkansas Department of Health to focus on […]
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, nearing the end of his term, reflects on eight years in office
As Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson looks back on his eight years in office, what he’s most proud of might surprise you. Sure, he takes pride in shepherding through the largest income tax cuts in state history, but that’s not the first thing he mentioned in a wide-ranging interview about his administration. “Whenever you look at […]
1.7 trillion spending package passes in U.S. Senate, backed by both parties
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion funding package Thursday that carries emergency aid for natural disaster recovery and the Ukrainian war effort, pushing past disputes over immigration policy and barely meeting a Friday deadline when current funding runs out. The bill, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, now goes to the […]
Arkansas’ Hutchinson, other GOP governors ask Biden to end public health emergency
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and 24 other Republican governors sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday asking him to end the national public health emergency declared at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “While the virus will be with us for some time, the emergency phase of the pandemic is behind us,” the governors […]
White House keys in on mayors and mayors-elect for D.C. forum on federal funding
WASHINGTON — Mayors from throughout the United States will sit down with senior Biden administration officials Friday for a half-day forum on how their cities can access resources within the COVID-19 aid bill, bipartisan infrastructure law and Democrats’ signature health care and climate change package known as the Inflation Reduction Act. The meetings, which will […]
White House resumes handing out free COVID-19 rapid test kits
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is once again offering Americans the opportunity to order free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests from the federal government, a program that it had shuttered amid an ongoing stalemate with Congress over additional funding to address the virus. The program will allow each household to order four free COVID-19 tests as […]
Federal judge strikes down part of Montana’s far-reaching anti-vax law
In a victory for public health advocates, a federal judge in Montana has blocked the state from implementing a law that would make it illegal for hospitals to ask employees if they are vaccinated. The measure, which passed last year, was the country’s most extreme anti-vaccination law. Health care providers in Montana had sued the […]
Congress on track to scrap Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in defense bill
WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. military would no longer be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine under a proposal Congress could pass as soon as this week. The provision eliminating the vaccine mandate is tucked into the massive National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy bill that Congress has passed each year for […]