covid-19

COMMENTARY
Heath and Sarah at the El Cortez Theater in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where they watched their first movie in public since 2020. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

Long Covid isolates sick people and their loved ones

BY: - September 20, 2023

My girlfriend’s idea felt brilliant to me: Put out a call on Facebook for Covid-cautious people in our area to rent a theater together. We could watch the Barbie movie while wearing high-quality masks to keep each other safe. The plan turned out to be quixotic. No one responded to Sarah’s request. She scrolled through […]

Arkansas government entities barred from mandating COVID-19 vaccination

BY: - September 14, 2023

Although most of the debate this week focused on tax cuts and public records, the Arkansas Legislature also voted to prohibit state and local government entities from mandating COVID-19 vaccination. Senate Bill 3 is similar to a law the General Assembly enacted in 2021 that sunset last month. The new law doesn’t include a sunset […]

Protesters march from Woodlane Street to the Arkansas Capitol on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, to deliver a letter to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office detailing the difficulties they have had with the state's Medicaid program. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

More than 26,500 Arkansans lost Medicaid coverage for procedural reasons in August

BY: - September 8, 2023

More than 26,500 Arkansans who had their Medicaid coverage extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic were dropped from the program in August because they did not provide necessary eligibility information, according to Arkansas Department of Human Services data released Friday. DHS has one month left in its six-month project to redetermine the eligibility of Medicaid […]

Death rates for people under 40 have skyrocketed. Blame fentanyl.

BY: - September 5, 2023

A new Stateline analysis shows that U.S. residents under 40 were relatively unscathed by COVID-19 in the pandemic but fell victim to another killer: accidental drug overdose deaths. Death rates in the age group were up by nearly a third in 2021 over 2018, and last year were still 21% higher. COVID-19 was a small […]

Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19; President, testing negative, maintains schedule

BY: - September 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 Monday night, the White House said in a statement. Biden has mild symptoms and will spend the week at home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the White House said. President Joe Biden tested negative Monday night and Tuesday. He will continue to be tested “at a […]

Next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and therapies gets a $1.4 billion boost

BY: - August 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a $1.4 billion investment in developing the so-called next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell made the announcement, saying the funding is part of the $5 billion program they hope will […]

Valencia White, right, talks about her concerns about Medicaid during an event Friday in Little Rock.

More than 31K Arkansans lost Medicaid coverage for procedural reasons in July

BY: - August 8, 2023

More than 31,000 Arkansans who had their Medicaid coverage extended due to the pandemic were dropped from the program in July because they did not provide required eligibility information, the Arkansas Department of Human Services reported Tuesday. DHS has now disenrolled more than 144,000 Arkansans four months into a six-month project to redetermine the eligibility […]

Rural Arkansans face long ambulance wait times, nationwide study says

BY: - August 7, 2023

All 75 counties in Arkansas have at least one ambulance desert, meaning it takes paramedics longer than 25 minutes to drive to some residents’ homes, according to a nationwide study published in May. Several factors, particularly limited public and private revenue in sparsely populated areas, drive this scarcity of potentially life-saving health services, according to […]

Arkansas pharmacies will receive $3.7M to cover unpaid insurance claims for COVID-19 treatments

BY: - July 21, 2023

More than 170 Arkansas pharmacies will receive nearly $3.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds as reimbursement for unpaid insurance claims covering COVID-19 treatments between March 2020 and May of this year. The Arkansas Legislative Council approved the funding request from the Arkansas Pharmacists Association on Friday after a subcommittee approved it earlier […]

Arkansas pharmacies face backlog of unpaid insurance claims for COVID-19 treatments

BY: - July 18, 2023

More than 170 Arkansas pharmacies will receive nearly $3.7 million in federal funds, pending approval from a legislative committee, as reimbursement for unpaid insurance claims covering COVID-19 treatments between March 2020 and May of this year. The Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council approved the funding request from the […]

Workers demonstrate in Miami Springs, Florida

Fast federal response to pandemic key to US economic recovery, economists say

BY: - May 15, 2023

The public health emergency declaration ended on Thursday, and with it some of the policies that helped the U.S. recover from the many of the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Although COVID-19 is still a public health threat, the national economic crisis it created has subsided with the U.S. economy back to its pre-pandemic […]

Medical worker wearing a protective suit as they enter a COVID-19 patient's room.

As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next

BY: - May 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States on Thursday will end the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations […]