public health emergency
Fast federal response to pandemic key to US economic recovery, economists say
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 […]
Sinema says Arizona ‘bears the brunt of the crisis’ as Title 42 immigration policy ends
WASHINGTON — In a rare sit-down with reporters, U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said Thursday that border states are not prepared for the end of a pandemic-era measure called Title 42 used to expel millions of migrants at the border. Sinema, an independent, was joined at the press event at the U.S. Capitol by […]
Thousands surrender to Border Patrol as Title 42 ends
EL PASO – Under the shadow of Gate 42, Elizabeth Ramirez repeated “I didn’t want it to be like this,” as she crossed over the Rio Grande, low and sluggish over algae. She was one of a group of two dozen people surrendering to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday. The people crossing would […]
As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next
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 […]
Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage
Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit — the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]
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 […]
Arkansas Medicaid eligibility review expected to start in January – DHS officials
The Arkansas Department of Human Services is ready to “unwind” Medicaid coverage for thousands of Arkansans who gained access to the health insurance program when the federal government declared a public health emergency in 2020, officials said Friday. The public health emergency (PHE) declared at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely end in […]
College officials attend White House meeting on how to curb monkeypox on campus
WASHINGTON — The White House held a virtual meeting Thursday with more than 1,000 college and university officials to help them prepare for a school year when monkeypox cases are expected to crop up on campus. The Biden administration’s monkeypox and COVID-19 response teams as well as representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and […]
Arkansas health officials, patients brace for Medicaid eligibility review
Health insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of Arkansans will soon be at risk as health officials prepare for the first-of-its-kind review of state Medicaid rolls. The number of Arkansans on Medicaid grew 20% during the pandemic, but some of those recipients are no longer eligible. They remained covered under the nation’s largest public health […]