Washington state asked the Trump administration on Sunday for deep changes to its Medicaid program to address the coronavirus epidemic, describing in stark terms the scale of the threat it faces from the spread of the disease.
I wonder if the Dotard is starting to regret playing POTUS.
And Donnie ignored the plea because Inslee is a Dem and Washington is blue.
The Impeached Imbecile will never take it seriously if it doesn’t have his name on it. Let’s start calling it the Trump virus; COVFEFE-45®.
Aides to FDR, if FDR were Trump: “The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor! The nation is in a panic! What are your orders?”
FDTrump: “Alert the media immediately that I knew this attack was coming even before it happened. And that I’ll have another press conference in a few days to say how well I’m handling things. Or maybe next week…”
Aides: “But the Governor of Hawaii is calling out for immediate naval protection!”
FDTrump: "Tell him to check the stores…(to Jared, sotto voce: “Buy some stocks in naval goods right away…)”
Some massive kissing of trump’s ass by his staff during just finished preds conference
I would like to be able to hope that, going forward from this, the government will begin training reserve medical corps – and stockpiling emergency supplies. I’d like to hope that this event will be a lesson.
I do not have much hope, however. It seems to be human nature not to plan ahead. And the nature of governments. Epidemiologists have been warning about the looming threat of novel viruses for decades. Yet here we are.
Put that in the same column as climate change denial.
I’d say he could join the majority of us who deeply regret it, but no. He has to be permanently quarantined.
How dare you tell Trump anything?
Do you think you more then he does?
Have you been listening to his press conferences when all his suck puppies are saying the President is doing this and that when the stupid fucker doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground?
You better learn to kiss his royal ass or he will let your people die.
Are we starting to see red states prioritized over blue states (especially states where Trump doesn’t like the governor)? Hope not. But it’s hard not to wonder.
As of this writing, CMS has yet to approve the virus-stricken state’s request.
My god. Time for the MSM to step in and up the pressure!
I am sure Trump won’t have thought about using the dire conditions in Washington to shakedown Gov. Inslee for “a modest favor”.
The stockpiling of supplies, for sure. There are stockpiles of some supplies relevant for military/battlefield scenarios, but a public health emergency is different than abruptly ramping up the need for trauma surgery from bullet and shell wounds. The situation various US hospitals are in with respect to personal protective equipment (PPE) is distressing, largely because it was so avoidable. No pre-existing stockpile, to your point, and that’s amazing. (on the bright side, so as not to depress people, this is also very fixable since PPE is not complex to manufacture and there are various groups that can assist – it’s obvious though that the plans to do so are being created from scratch as we speak, rather than pre-existing plans that are being triggered)
A reserve medical corps, though, is not really feasible unless I’m misunderstanding the point. The reason that works in a military context is physicians and nurses can leave their jobs at hospital xx, and join military unit yy for deployment. In a public health crisis, keeping those staff exactly where they are so they can operate efficiently is partly the point of the whole exercise. Obviously simply training more people as physicians and nurses, and then having them work as something else except when needed, isn’t really feasible. Likewise a corp of first-aid responders – something a good number of people could be trained in – isn’t that useful in critical care medicine, which is where the demand on the system is going to fall.
Exactly. And Florida, a state experiencing less stress, saw its application sail right through because it voted for Trump. And Trump needs it to vote for him again. And its governor worships Trump.
Infuriating.
Yup, TPM buries the lede.
These requests should have no more than a day or two for approval. And they approved Florida(!!!) before any of the states currently under crisis. Sorry Floridians, but priority for review and approval should be given to states with the highest cases first!
“I’d LIKE to send you life-saving emergency medical supplies, but I want you to do me a favor first…”
So true – the tone of the White House press conferences has abruptly changed for the better, but action is obviously still lacking. Getting the bureaucracy churning is like turning a super tanker at the best of times; it takes a lot of foresight and the turn will take a while. Packing so many department leadership positions with incompetent lickspittles isn’t going to help
I knew we were in trouble as soon as our governor was called a snake.
It is rich hearing that Democrats or liberals are politicizing the pandemic.
Let me get this straight…Florida, the swing state got approval, but Washington, the blue state is ignored???
Our National Guard are all reservists, and I’m talking about a similar corps, but with medical training. I am not suggesting that we train doctors, you are correct that that would make no sense. But I see no drawback to widespread training as practical nurses (as opposed to registered nurses) and orderlies.
One doctor, PA or registered nurse could then command a number of helpers and thus care for more patients.