We the People of Johnson Co MO, Thursday, September 15, 2022 💉💰 Should the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Authorization Continue?

In July, the Biden administration extended the COVID-19 public health emergency into October, and he appears poised to extend it again for at least another three months. Why?

Let’s start with the definition of a Public Health Emergency (PHE). I looked for an hour and a half for a definition that quantified a PHE, and this is the best I could find:

The National Disaster Medical System defines a public health emergency as: "an emergency need for health care [medical] services to respond to a disaster, significant outbreak of an infectious disease, bioterrorist attack or other significant or catastrophic event." To activate the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), "a public health emergency may include but is not limited to, public health emergencies declared by the Secretary of HHS [Health and Human Services] under 42 U.S.C. 247d, or a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), 42 U.S.C. 5121-5206)."[5][6]

So. No quantifiable anything. Basically, if the Secretary of Health & Human Services wants to call something a PHE he can. Keep in mind Xavier Becerra, the current Secretary of HHS, holds an office that is NOT an elected position. He does not necessarily work for us. He works for the President who appointed him.

In my digging for a definition of PHE I came across something that is very specific and quantifiable: the 18 actions that can be taken by the Secretary of HHS during the PHE. I bet you’ll be really surprised to find out that many of them allow the Sec. of HHS to:

• access special reserved government funds,

• provide monetary grants as needed, (he gets to make that decision)

• grant extensions or waive sanctions relating to submission of data/reports (like maybe, the CDC?),

• adjust Medicare reimbursements for drugs (like remdesivir, PCR testing, mRNA shots), and….the price change could be implemented without rulemaking, (aka willy-nilly)

• make temporary (up to one year or the duration of the emergency) appointments of personnel to positions (that answers part of the eternal extension of the PHE),

• Hospitals receive a 20% increase for every Medicare patient diagnosed with covid. This explains why most hospitals are still testing every patient admitted for covid.

Not so surprised…???

This doesn’t cover all of it, but the idea is that under PHE the Sec. of HHS has vastly expanded power in terms of money and jurisdiction. He is performing his job hand-in-hand with the previous-Senator to expand the powers of the federal government far beyond those afforded him in the Constitution.

I know, that’s not really a news flash. Just a reality.

Enough with the backdoor policymaking. It’s time for the PHE to end.

At this point, nearly all Americans have some form of immunity to covid. Hospitalization rates haven't been high for months. If the administration wants to keep these benefits in place, it needs to follow the normal democratic and legislative processes to do so, instead of using the emergency to duck the need for congressional approval. For example, some Republican lawmakers cried foul when the COVID-19 state of emergency provided the basis for previous VP Joe Biden to grant debt relief for unpaid college loans through the post-9/11 Heroes Act. Can you say overreach?

In addition to destroying our freedom and our Constitution, the PHE has even more drawbacks (ya think?) such as:

• Funneling billions of dollars solely to combat COVID-19 means other potential health emergencies would get short shrift. Like, possibly, the emergencies being caused by the mRNA shot.

• The 20% bonus payment to hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients is purported to offset costs of protocols that limit the spread of the disease. A side-effect of the payment is that ALL patients are tested for covid, to keep from missing that bonus! The focus should be on protecting those who are truly vulnerable to a severe covid outcome.

• In addition, the 20% bonus may keep an asymptomatic patient from being discharged to rehab or skilled nursing, due to a potentially erroneous positive test. As such, the hospital remains crowded when those beds could otherwise be used for truly sick patients.

• Keeping the country under a state of emergency appears to be emboldening not only the federal government, but also state and local governments to hang on to pointless but harmful COVID-19 restrictions and mandates.

• If we continue to pretend covid is a PHE, there will come a time when citizens no longer heed the cry, “Wolf!”, possibly ignoring a real threat.

We need to lift the federal public health emergency. It will free up funds and hospital capacity. It will discourage policymakers from clinging to unconstitutional and harmful pandemic policies and help guide the country back toward much-needed normalcy.

Here are a couple of suggestions -

• Contact Governor Parson by clicking the pink link, asking for the Public Health Emergency to be discontinued in Missouri. North Carolina lifted theirs recently. Missouri needs to follow suit.

• Share this with anyone you think would be interested in contacting our Governor.

Have a wonderful Thursday! And remember, if we can help, we MUST

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