# 3886
In the 24 hours since the news of President Obama’s declaration of a Swine Flu National Emergency, the tin-foil hat brigade has been out in force, warning everyone who would listen that this is a prelude to some kind of militaristic takeover of the United States.
The full text of this declaration is available HERE (hat tip Crof on Crofsblog)
But the `meat’ of this declaration is as follows:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) and consistent with section 1135 of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5), do hereby find and proclaim that, given that the rapid increase in illness across the Nation may overburden health care
resources and that the temporary waiver of certain standard Federal requirements may be warranted in order to enable U.S. health care facilities to implement emergency operations plans, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in the United States constitutes a national emergency.
Accordingly, I hereby declare that the Secretary may exercise the authority under section 1135 of the SSA to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance programs and of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule throughout the duration of the public health emergency declared in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
In exercising this authority, the Secretary shall provide certification and advance written notice to the Congress as required by section 1135(d) of the SSA (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5(d)).
In other words, hospitals and other health care providers could, under this edict, cut some of the red tape and regulations they are now required to follow while dealing with this medical emergency.
Triage tents, and satellite flu clinics can be set up some distance from the parent facility without running afoul of federal regulations. Rules regarding federal reimbursement for `offsite’ care can be worked around. And some reporting requirements can be temporarily relaxed.
All of these things are designed to help smooth out the delivery of medical care during an emergency.
After the hefty criticism of the previous administration’s slow response in the face of Hurricane Katrina, the Whitehouse is simply acting in a proactive manner, getting out in front of this crisis before it escalates.
Of course, saying that doesn’t drive traffic to your website.
Which probably explains why alternate theories are so abundant on the web.
