The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) clarified some of the guidance on the termination of the public health emergency this week. Also, the Arizona State University (ASU) Biodesign Institute has created a statewide survey to better understand the paths that new COVID variants take when moving through Arizona.
The...
On Monday, the Biden administration announced that it would end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declaration. The announcement came as the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills that would curb federal authority in pandemic response. In Arizona, legislators are pushing bills that would ban schools from requiring...
As Arizona is caught in the midst of a multi-front surge of not only COVID-19 but also influenza, with rates of COVID infections in nursing homes continuing to rise, Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) reintroduced legislation in Congress to curb federal oversight of the nation's pandemic response. Meanwhile, the Arizona Department of...
The super transmissible COVID-19 variant XBB.1.5 has made it to Arizona and new data from AARP demonstrates that vaccination levels in nursing homes remain troublingly low.
The presence of XBB.1.5 in Arizona is still low, but throughout the pandemic surges related to certain variants have hit Arizona slower than other states, the...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Wednesday that it would extend the public health emergency (PHE) and associated waivers and flexibilities for another 90 days.
The next big deadline for the pandemic will be in 30 days, as the Biden administration pledged to give the industry 60-days notice before...
The U.S. has a new dominant COVID-19 variant, XBB.1.5, which is reportedly twenty-five times as contagious as the original strain of coronavirus. Meanwhile, seniors and people of color bear the burden of high rates of transmission and death as a result of the virus.
New research demonstrates that the death toll of COVID-19 in...
COVID-19 cases across the state are down this week, but are expected to rise following the winter holidays. The Supreme Court ruled that a Trump-era border restriction enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic will remain in effect while the court settles the issue.
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the controversial Title 42 to remain in...
Arizona experienced the fifth-largest drop in life expectancy in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, and although cases have dropped this week, the surge of other winter-related airborne respiratory viruses have hospitals and over-the-counter medical supply distributors under increasing levels of stress.
On Monday, a coalition...
Arizona hospitals are buckling under the pressure of three coinciding surges in airborne illnesses COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This "tripledemic" is elevating the need to raise vaccination rates for both COVID and the flu, as vaccinations in key areas remain low.
While lower than last week, there were...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has submitted its long-term COVID-19 safety standard for healthcare facilities to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Although the date for the plan's implementation is not set, this marks a significant step forward as lawsuits around COVID-19 safety...
Arizona cases of COVID-19 are spiking again, heralding the long-awaited winter surge warned of by experts and epidemiologists. But vaccine uptake, especially of the new bivalent booster, remains low as experts cite "vaccine fatigue" among Americans.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero has tested positive for COVID-19 and experiencing mild...
What major coverage transitions can we expect after the Public Health Emergency expires and state Medicaid agencies resume normal eligibility determinations and a predicted 18 million in the U.S. lose coverage?
The emergency declaration is expected to expire in April 2023 - people in Medicaid are expected to make the following...
The winter surge of COVID-19 has hit Arizona. Cases are on the rise with seniors hit especially hard. In Arizona, the influx of cases in tandem with the high volume of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases has some Arizona officials urging masking in public places and the resumption of mitigating practices.
There were 12,987 new...
New information on Long COVID is emerging as researchers investigate the causes and symptoms of the elusive condition. Meanwhile, stakeholder groups and providers are appealing to the federal government for guidance on returning to normal operating procedures as perception of the pandemic subsides.
The U.S. Department of Health and...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has signaled that it will delay the end of the public health emergency (PHE) related to the COVID-19 pandemic until April, quelling fears from stakeholders that not enough time was given to review Medicaid eligibility for everyone enrolled since the pandemic began.
In Arizona,...
Following reported success of both the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and the antiviral pill Paxlovid, Pfizer has announced that it will move forward on new vaccines to combat the coronavirus pandemic and influenza at the same time. Meanwhile, stakeholders are requesting an extension of the public health emergency declaration beyond its...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) lessened penalties for the Hospital Readmissions Reductions Program (HRRP), a Medicare program that evaluates how often patients return to a hospital within 30 days and reduces payments for hospitals with higher readmission rates. But while many hospitals...
There will likely be a winter surge of COVID-19 in the next few months, but Americans aren't receiving the bivalent booster shot that targets Omicron variants.
The daily global COVID-19 infection rate is expected to rise by two million daily cases by February, according to an analysis from the University of Washington. Reuters notes...
American's aren't rushing to the pharmacy or their doctors' office to get the bivalent booster released last month, worrying experts as a potential winter surge of COVID-19 looms on the horizon.
According to the Wall Street Journal, fewer than 5% of Americans have received the updated COVID-19 shot in the month since it was released....
Nearly 200,000 Arizonans have now received the bivalent COVID-19 booster shots that are designed to specifically counter the Omicron subvariants of the virus, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized that the shots be extended to children as young as five years old.
In Arizona, cases are down for the first week...