HHS Acting Secretary Norris Cochran Declares Public Health Emergency for State of Texas Due to Winter Storms
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Acting Secretary Norris Cochran declared a public health emergency for the state of Texas on Feb. 17, 2021, due to the recent winter storms. This declaration follows President Biden’s emergency declaration for the state of Texas last week. The recent HHS action allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to give healthcare providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs in disasters.
"As communities across Texas are facing the aftermath of severe winter weather that is unusual for the area, we are ready to provide critical support,” said HHS Acting Secretary Cochran. “The public health emergency declaration and Social Security Act waiver will help ensure our department’s continued ability to protect access to healthcare – particularly for those with Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. HHS stands ready to assist the state of Texas to get aid to those individuals and families most impacted by these storms.”
In declaring the public health emergency and authorizing flexibilities for CMS programs, Acting Secretary Cochran performed within his authority under the Public Health Service Act and Social Security Act. These actions and flexibilities are retroactive to February 11, 2021.
Oh no. Socialistic Communistic Healthcare from the Libs. How is Texas going to survive this?
So the government will do it for snow and 30 dead. But not for a Pandemic with 500 k dead
Since is only one state that is being affected, they, in their mind, would cost less than doing it for the whole country, when they have no problem in printing infinite amount of money for rich people and corporations and the military to kill people abroad, while also giving free healthcare to everyone in congress but not for regular folks who are dying
Texans probably won't complain about it being socialism because they're too stupid to know it is socialism. I've actually heard people argue against socialism because Obamacare (capitalism) is a disaster and if people need healthcare, they can apply for Medicaid (socialism.)
Henry Baker
Any true, red-blooded Texan will tell Biden to shove his emergency resources where the sun don’t shine. Texas can take care of itself
Hunter Russell
Yeah the whole world just witnessed how well Texas can take care of itself.
Ayden Foster
This’ll blow up in their faces. Texas Patriots will resist socialism, violently if they have to.
Jacob Hernandez
Not sure if satire.
Gabriel Cook
And after all this is said and done Texas will go right back to telling the federal government to go fuck itself. Two faced faggots
Ian Reed
Rick Perry from his comfy home said Texans would rather freeze to death before having any form of socialism
Elijah Sanchez
>Texas can take care of itself Hey, faggot, posting from your nice comfy home?
Kevin Clark
Texas needs to literally drive out the libs who are pouring in there before they become liberal.
Justin Jones
Turn off your lights and heater, faggot.
Cooper Collins
Is this why they flipped the switch in Texas.. excuse to come in and take over medical system due Covid? What scam can we expect next?
Benjamin Myers
Is this to cover up all the incoming invaders at the Texas border that likely have Covid?
Julian Baker
>Not sure if satire Texas Republicans are unironically and unintentionally satirical in all they do and say.
Brody Bell
>Is this why they flipped the switch in Texas
Lack of meds flipped yor brane.
Jacob Morris
Based and thispilled
A COUNTRY BOY WILL SURVIVE
Julian Hughes
our health care system is fine. what this article is actually saying is "wah waaaah why don't they have free socialized healthcare in texas why do they reject communism waaaaaaaaaaah"
David Rogers
I'm alright jack, keep your hand off my stack.
I gonna chop that hand off with my sickle, bitch, after we take your guns outta your greasy fat lil fingers.
Levi Roberts
Everyone is going to want health insurance, because everyone wants to be able to afford medical treatment if something happens to their health. It's something subject to inelastic demand. And there are actually practical arguments around the cost effectiveness and affordability of any given healthcare system in providing for the public health. There's something to be said in terms of actual cost and public health outcomes for the government providing everyone basic insurance and negotiating prices with providers, instead of leaving that purely to the private sector.
Right now the Republican position is basically leave everything to the private market and when the inevitable inclement weather or economic downturn happens every year the federal government will just swoop in and rapidfire socialism to get things back to normal; mostly because they have no political ideology, they just say whatever they need to entrench their own power. And sometimes that means kowtowing to corporate interests by claiming markets are the solution to everything, and often that means totally ignoring that and pretending to care about their constituency when the existing system fails particularly badly.
Bad weather, infectious disease, and economic recession just aren't strange outlier events that we can afford to ignore when designing policy that governs utilities and healthcare and then every other year the federal government swoops in with emergency powers; that's not sensible way to structure governance.
Luke Lewis
Better to struggle and survive through disasters and learn how to prevent/better respond to them in the future than give 1 inch of ground to socialism in Texas. Cope seethe and dilate, Chang.
Camden Jones
>our health care system is fine. >ranks 37th in the world 2 positions above fucking CUBA. European socialised healthcare BTFO of US healthcare by every metric. The US system is below many 3rd world countries. The only reason we can't have nice things like that is the full court press against it by rightwing media corporate mouthpieces and the opposition by GOP elected officials who although almost all are multi-millionaires use govt. socialised healthcare for themselves and their families. They choose it for themselves, but "it would be horrible for the American people because muh megacorporate for profit insurance/medical/pharma would get their feefees hurt and not be able to line muh pockets with $millions."
