Coronavirus testing to be covered by Medicare and Medicaid
"An administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said today that any costs associated with the coronavirus test would be covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Verma noted that it is a diagnostic test so it would be covered under insurance as an essential health benefit and is a covered service in the exchanges — in Medicaid and in Medicare.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield added that the test the CDC provides to the public health community is provided free of charge to public health labs across the country.
Pence said that there was concern that some people felt they could not be tested if they were only mildly symptomatic, but the new guidance will make clear “that any clinician or health authority can administer the test.” "(CNN)
@doschicos —I think the Fed gov’t needs to pick up the costs. Cuomo shifting the burden to the insurers places the insurers in a position they should not be in. (Look out at rate negotiation time with NYS.) Also, any self-insured company does not need to comply b/c they are regulated at the Fed level, so there will be confusion related to Cuomo’s edict. Some employees who go to work in NYS will not know if their coverage is self-insured or fully-insured.
I mean, yes, it is the right thing to so, but a cleaner approach would have been for NYS or the Fed gov’t to pick up the tab.
FWIW, the ebola thing wasn’t really an opinion. High, quickly lethal viruses tend to die out quickly since they can’t be carried to other places if you kill your vectors quickly.
Also, unlike flu/covid/etc Ebola can’t spread silently. It spreads only when symptoms are present. Pretty hard to hide coughing up blood.
Ebola is still endemic in some places of Africa (Congo) and it isn’t spreading because of the factors above.
First confirmed case of coronavirus in Berkeley, California
The Northern California city of Berkeley just announced its first confirmed case of novel coronavirus from a resident who returned from a country with a coronavirus outbreak. The resident, who returned to Berkeley on Feb. 23, was concerned about being exposed through travel and stayed home in a voluntary self-imposed quarantine…
Berkeley City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley also proclaimed a local emergency at noon today. The declaration allows the city to arrange more resources to prepare for any additional cases." (CNN)
Seattle declares emergency due to coronavirus
"Seattle is joining other communities in Washington state today, declaring an emergency to respond to the novel coronavirus…
Around the state: Similar emergency proclamations have been made by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, along with the King County government and the Seattle suburbs of Kirkland and Redmond. " (CNN)
Emergency reserves of N95 face masks released for use by health care workers in California
"Respirator face masks in California’s emergency planning reserves are being freed up for use by health care workers.
Many of the face masks from the state’s emergency reserve are nearing or beyond their “use by” date, and are to be used only in low-risk situations, according to a statement from California Public Health.
Shortages of N95 masks have been reported nationwide, and this move is an effort to free up unexpired masks for more high risk circumstances." (CNN)
I don’t disagree. Feds first but if not, then the state level.
@nhatrang The Berkeley case is a person in their thirties who had been to Italy. They are not associated with the university and the case is mild. (This was in the local news.)
SOUTH KOREA - 516 cases for a total of 5,328 and 1 new death for a total of 32.
Among the 516 new cases, 405 are from the city of Daegu. Another 89 new cases are from North Gyeongsang province, which surrounds Daegu. Around 90% of the nation’s cases are from Daegu and North Gyeongsang.
CHINA - 119 new cases for a total of 80,270. 38 new deaths bringing the total to 2,981
This is lower than yesterday, when 125 new cases were confirmed – at the time, the lowest number of new daily cases since January. <3
There were 38 new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,981. The total number of cases stands at 80,270 as of the end of March 3.
Washington state residents frustrated over obstacles to get coronavirus tests
Too much info to cut and paste here. Disturbing info relayed in here. Makes us look like some third world country. Obviously the testing capabilities aren’t where they need to be yet.
Did you ever read Steven King’s The Stand? That’s what I had in mind for a serious pandemic. I didn’t think much of a scenario like this that is much less lethal than the fictional pandemic in that book. I would think we have some type of military plans for what to do in case there is a pandemic including ones with higher fatality rates. I don’t think we could count on constitutional rights if we were seen as being a super carrier of a highly lethal virus, for example. I’m imagining that we might be forced into quarantine whether we liked it or not. And I believe one early evacuee from China tried to leave the military base where they were brought and was forcibly required to stay, so I don’t think it is outlandish to imagine that the government might enact restrictions on people’s movements. I’m not advocating any particular thing, but if millions will die unless movement is restricted, I’d guess our country is doing to restrict movement. maybe I took that book a bit too seriously as a kid. It scared the crap out of me back then but was a great read, if you haven’t read it.
Pandemics happen. We had several last century and this looks like the biggest one in 100 years. Knowing this, governments have a responsibility to prepare for them and have equipment and money, plans, and people ready to respond to the eventuality of pandemics. Not being reading and saying ‘who is going to pay for all this’ is like not having any type of emergency fund and living paycheck to paycheck. many people have to do that but our country shouldn’t handle something that can kill so many as an optional extra but as an essential requirement to have ready to respond to. Masks shouldn’t be on short supply or other gear or life saving machines like respirators. We need a better plan for the future, that’s for sure!! This isn’t impressing me so far.
They should plan a stress test for mothers of employees. Of course I’m worried even though I know son is ultra cautious. I also worry that he’ll run out of food and I’ll have to have an emergency supply of Lou Malnati pizzas shipped.
The flu numbers surprise me because I keep hearing in our state that there are way more deaths from flu than normal here and I assumed across the country as well. There are way more flu cases this year than most years according to the chart I saw on the CDC site that compares each of recent years on one graph. I wonder if some of our state’s numbers of ‘flu deaths’ are actually this virus? Hope not.
I don’t want the government imposing martial law on the country now. I want them to test people who should be tested based on both symptoms/exposure/doctors’ opinions of who should get tested. I want them to trace contacts and have people self-quarantine. I want them to have a database tracking everything and share info with the public so people can know if they might have been exposed and watch for symptoms. I want them to be proactive when possible. I want them to do all they can to mitigate the loss of lives. I also do want to feel the country WOULD quarantine areas if it was very serious. should we let a Wuhan situation go with no quarantine? I hope we would not let people move all over the country freely from a very highly infected area. I’m not so sure how far away we are from a Wu Han-like situation here at this point. A month? two months? Hopefully never but ???
Mike Pence announces new screening measures - The US would also begin screening all travelers coming to the US on direct flights from Italy and South Korea.
source: CNN
There are now 125 coronavirus cases in the US. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown
Nine people have died from coronavirus in the United States and 124 have been infected, according to authorities.
Those include 48 cases from repatriated citizens, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The other 76 cases are spread across 13 states.
These numbers include presumptive positive cases that tested positive in a public health lab and are pending confirmation from the CDC, and confirmed cases that have received positive results from the CDC.
Here’s a state-by-state breakdown:
Arizona: 2
California: 26
Florida: 3
Georgia: 2
Illinois: 4
Massachusetts: 2
New Hampshire: 2
New York: 2
North Carolina: 1
Oregon: 3
Rhode Island: 2
Washington state: 27 (includes 9 deaths)
Wisconsin: 1
And here’s where the repatriated cases came from:
It is easier under an authoritarian style government. But that is not all they did that helped make cases start to go down in China. They did horrible things that are not OK, certainly. But they did great contact tracing, testing of those people, having people self-quarantine, enlisting their neighborhoods to help ensure people get food and medicine and have their health monitored daily while in quarantine, anticipate need and amazingly rapidly build medical facilities, use innovating cutting edge treatments to improve survival rates, and cut travel to seriously infected areas. Also, many people in China have said they don’t want to spread the virus. I heard many people in Wuhan who have their on youtube videos say this (not the government sponsored tug at your heart string videos but the ‘what it’s like under lockdown’ type videos ordinary people made) and all mentioned not wanting to get others sick. I think it can be a cultural difference in parts of Asia and the West, at least in my experience living in both parts of the world. I also think the high use of masks by people there also helped. My friend just got back from China a few weeks ago (mid feb) and said that all around the country people there are home all the time unless they have to go out because they are terrified of the illness and also don’t want to spread it to others. Streets are almost completely empty. Anyway, I think there is we can learn about what to do from other countries including from China and I don’t advocate draconian methods.
The phrase “social distancing” is kind of interesting, since it translates: consider the other person to likely be contagious.
Discriminatory, demonizing, a whole host of bad words but… an old time kind of survival skill. One you can practice without a government program or oversight.
Long as people are (even now) doing the social thing like nothing’s changed, a lack of testing seems irrelevant.
Obviously the testing capabilities aren’t where they need to be yet.