{"id":598858,"date":"2026-04-22T03:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598858\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T03:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:44:08","slug":"rkf-jr-declares-public-health-emergency-for-hawaii-in-wake-of-storms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598858\/","title":{"rendered":"RKF Jr. declares public health emergency for Hawaii in wake of storms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"REUTERS\/JONATHAN<\/p>\n

REUTERS\/JONATHAN ERNST \/ APRIL 21<\/p>\n

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Kennedy Jr. signed the declaration today to address the health impacts to Hawaii caused by Kona-low storms.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency for the state of Hawaii due to the impacts of the Kona-low storms in March.<\/p>\n

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed the declaration today to address the health impacts caused by the severe back-to-back storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides that occurred from March 10 to 24.<\/p>\n

It follows President Trump\u2019s approval of a major disaster <\/a>declaration<\/a> for Hawaii, which made federal funding available for ongoing response and recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

With the public health declaration, federal providers and suppliers will have greater flexibility in meeting the emergency health care needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

This includes the adjustment of Medicare reimbursement for certain Part B drugs, temporary appointments of personnel, and the modified practice of telemedicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cHHS is committed to supporting the people of Hawaii as they recover from these devastating storms,\u201d said RKF Jr. in the release. \u201cBy declaring a public health emergency, we are ensuring that health care providers have the flexibility they need to continue serving their communities and that patients can maintain access to essential services during this critical time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To support state and local response efforts, HHS\u2019 Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has provided access to its emPOWER database.<\/p>\n

The database includes the number of Medicare beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent durable medical equipment and certain health care services such as dialysis, oxygen tanks, or home health care by zip code.<\/p>\n

This data has in past years informed planning, response, and recovery efforts to quickly address the needs of at-risk residents in areas impacted by the disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cASPR is working closely with federal, state, and local partners to support Hawaii\u2019s recovery efforts,\u201d said ASPR Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary John Knox in a statement. \u201cThrough tools like HHS emPOWER and the flexibilities enabled by this declaration, we are helping identify and reach vulnerable populations, ensuring continuity of care for those who need it most during and after this disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public health declaration is retroactive to March 10, and lasts for the duration of the emergency or 90 days, unless extended by the Secretary.<\/p>\n

A toll-free Disaster Distress Helpline is also available for crisis counseling 24\/7 in multiple languages. To connect with a trained counselor, call or text 1-800-985-5990.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"REUTERS\/JONATHAN ERNST \/ APRIL 21 U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-598858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}