PAGE 5
Survivors of Sexual Assault Face
Barriers in the Justice System
PAGE 7
Homelessness Threatens
Survivors of Domestic Abuse
PAGE 13
The Young Aren't Immune to
COVID-19
PAGE 15
CDC Information
PAGE 19
Important COVID-19 Information
for Those with Asthma and/or
Allergies
PAGE 21
Helpful Resources
12 Confirmed Cases
*Including 1 Death
The latest number of
positive COVID-19 cases in
Lafayette County.
The Lafayette County Commission
has issued a Stay at Home Ordinance.
Please do not leave home if it can be
avoided...and practice social
distancing for the foreseeable future.
County offices continue to operate
and fulfill constituent requests - but
by phone and electronic methods
only. #LafayetteCountyMO
#WashYourHands
LAFAYETTECOUNTYMO.COM
Blunt, 121 Members of Congress Send Bipartisan, Bicameral
Letter Calling on HHS to Help Rural Health Providers
In letter to HHS Secretary Azar, lawmakers urge administration to provide
immediate financial assistance to rural health care providers amid COVID-19
pandemic.
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), Chairman of the U.S.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education and Related Agencies, joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of 121
Members of Congress in sending a letter to the Trump administration calling for
immediate assistance to rural hospitals and clinics.
The lawmakers specifically called on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary
Alex Azar to use funding included in the recently-passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to sustain rural health providers.
The CARES Act included $100 billion to reimburse health providers for costs
associated with responding to COVID-19. It is important that these funds are
provided to rural providers because the decision to cease performing elective
procedures and seeing non-urgent patients can affect rural hospitals more
significantly because they have smaller population bases and smaller financial
margins. In addition to providing this funding, Blunt was integral in ensuring that
hospitals are able to receive prospective payments for COVID-19 related care. This
allows hospitals to receive funding prior to expenditures, because many small and
rural hospitals do not have the financial means to make large purchases, like
ventilators, upfront.
In their letter, the lawmakers urged Azar to take immediate steps to provide financial
relief for rural providers during this global pandemic:
"We are hearing from rural hospitals from across the country that have only days left
of cash on hand – money needed for payroll and supplies," wrote the lawmakers.
"Mr. Secretary, our rural providers need your immediate assistance. Congress has
provided you with the funding and flexibility. Now it is up to the administration to
respond with rapid action to sustain rural providers. Any unnecessary delay will only
worsen this situation. Therefore, we request you make the financial relief of rural
hospitals a priority. Rural hospitals need access to financial resources immediately
and in the most streamlined manner."
The lawmakers also requested the administration host a teleconference with Members
of Congress by April 3, 2020 to provide an update on how they intend to assist rural
providers and hospitals across the country.
Click here to read the letter.
Please Click Here To View This Press Release Online
RED CROSS IN NEED FOR
DONATIONS FOR CORONAVIRUS
To learn more or to schedule a blood donation, visit
https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/dlp/coronavirus--
PAGE 02 April 2020
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