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"Less than a day after announcing the state would pause reopening plans but not revert to stricter measures as covid-19 infections and hospitalizations surge in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ® issued an executive order Friday that revives restrictions on bars, restaurants and certain types of outdoor recreation.
Bars must shutter by noon to all but carryout and drive-through customers, while restaurants, which are currently running at 75 percent, must scale back their operating capacity to 50 percent by Monday. Additionally, Abbott’s order shuts down river rafting and tubing, a popular outdoor recreation in Texas.
Most indoor businesses can continue to operate at the state’s current Phase 3 capacity of 50 percent, although child care, youth camps and churches have no limits. Most gatherings of more than 100 are prohibited but subject to greater restrictions if local officials demand them.
Abbott’s order Friday morning is an about-face from a Thursday announcement in which he said the state would pause its current Phase 3 of reopening but not move backward."
I’m generally despairing again. We completely botched the beginning of the response nationwide. That’s not a partisan statement, that includes missteps by Inslee, Cuomo, Democrats, the CDC and the clown at the wheel of the clown car, Trump. But we got it together well enough in late March and through April. Now we are going right back to a patchwork of half assed measures.
And meanwhile new studies coming out weekly aren’t encouraging in terms of achieving immunity.
Over 9000 new cases reported in Florida in the past 24 hours. Mind blowing. De Santis and the rest of these “open up” governors need to be charged with reckless endangerment.
My dog sitting business was starting to pick up again and I’m on track to make about $1500 in the next month. No cancellations yet but I’m not holding my breath. In turn it just means I have to continue not to spend anything above my basic bills. We have just cut off our noses to spite our faces and it was all predicted and preventable. Complete failure of leadership in my state.
It’s not coming back. It never went away- the numbers were kept down by having non-essential businesses closed, disallowing public gatherings and individuals self-isolating.
It’s so sad to see what is going on in the US in terms of the spread of the virus and the confusing and changing picture of what is happening nationally and by state.
It doesn’t seem to matter how many people die, they seem to just be seen as collateral damage by the US president - to him and his supporters, just a cost of getting the economy going again.
I also read with disbelief that Trump is also introducing legislation so that anyone who has had the virus will be banned from taking out health insurance/have their current coverage cancelled. What sort of arrogance does it take to make that sort of announcement in the months running up to the US elections.
Perhaps it was an interpretative musing regarding his ongoing attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA includes legislation that prohibits insurance companies from declining people or charging them extra for having a pre-existing condition.
However, things like having the flu or having pink-eye are not really considered pre-existing conditions. Covid is similar to those things - temporary and resolving viral or bacterial infections. Pre-existing conditions are typically on-going health conditions such as diabetes or “bad” pap smears.
Of course, I completely believe he would say something so stupid, but it’s definitely not up to him what is considered a pre-existing condition or not. So, maybe it has more to do with shutting down the healthcare market places (where we buy insurance) that exist because of the ACA. There was a rush and a lot of people bought health insurance after losing their employee-insurance from losing jobs and also just being afraid of getting sick from Covid. He may be trying to prevent that.
Also some states, like my own, did special covid related legislation regarding insurance and payment for covid. For instance, my own insurance has a very high deductible (my choice) and usually I would have to pay out of pocket until my deductible was met. E.g. if I had to go to the ER for a cut finger or something, I would have to just pay for it. But, my state, made it so that any covid related issues had to be paid for by insurance companies regardless of deductibles. That kind of thing would definitely tick him off ,)
Anyway, if you know where you read it, I’d love to see the article. Thanks!
@Helsi Yes, that is what I thought. It is just another article about how he wants to dismantle the ACA (“Obamacare”). But this is not new at all. It was one of his campaign promises to his little in-bred minions. It is how he got a certain amount of votes - some people are so upset about the ACA that they will vote for a candidate that promises to get rid of it. Actually, most republicans run on promises of getting rid of the ACA. It’s not just Trump, unfortunately.
I understand, but it isn’t really new. Getting rid of the ACA would make it possible for insurance companies to reject applicants for insurance or charge a very hefty extra fee in addition to a rider that would allow them to not cover any issues related to the pre-existing condition - it honestly doesn’t matter if it’s covid or not.
It used to be like this before Obama did the ACA. You could be denied health insurance for having one bad pap smear when you were 18 or you could pay 5 times the rate and still not be covered for anything remotely related to your cervix. It was the same for people with diabetes, allergies, ankle problems, heart murmurs, vertigo, ulcers, etc, etc, etc.
Trying to get (or keep or pay for) insurance without a full-time employer offering you insurance, used to be a real nightmare. Trump and most republicans want to have it that way again. It is despicable.
Here is one way the federal government is already treating covid patients differently.
Because they know severe covid may pose long term health risks, potential military recruits have to jump through additional hoops to be medically cleared.
No one would be surprised to have covid declared a pre-existing condition in the future. It’s already been associated with the development of diabetes and Guillen Barre Syndrome.
The key is Trump and republicans need to be voted out so we can continue to improved the health care system.
Sure, if we get pre-existing conditions thrown back at us. But it’s so silly isn’t it? Numerous viral and bacterial infections are thought to trigger Guillen-Barre Syndrome.
I’ve been enjoying having “obamacare” but I still don’t go to the doctor. I was dealing with insurance as an independent contractor (no employer insurance) before the ACA. I have always been suspicious that we will lose it and anything I’ve been treated for while pre-existing conditions aren’t an issue will surely be a problem when/if the government allows them again.
I know I’m not the only one. A lot of people still avoid getting healthcare so that it doesn’t go on their “permanent record”. Interestingly, it must have an effect on the covid statistics. You couldn’t pay me to get a covid test or an antibody test - I can’t take the chance of pre-existing condition exclusions being allowed again in the future.
OK, you can call me an ignorant Brit, but what its the problem in the US with health insurance? Most developed countries have some sort of scheme and here in the UK we have the mega-wonderful NHS - free treatment at the point of contact, despite efforts to privatise parts of it. So can somebody please explain to me in words of one syllable what the problem is Obamacare and schemes like it in the US? I’m not being snippy, just genuinely curious!
My understanding is that healthcare became associated with employment as part of benefits negotiated by U.S. unions, largely involving the US’s largest “nonprofit” insurer, Blue Cross, plus due to government treatment of business health insurance cost as a nontaxable fringe benefit, and a reimbursable expense to wartime manufacturers with government contracts during WWII. This replaced mutual aid societies and union-funded health care.
As JJD says, follow the money. A third party medical/industrial complex has entrenched interest in maintaining and profiting from a privatized system. And lobbying and campaign finance clout. And a useful ally in the president’s and his base’s distaste for (and the president’s raging jealously of and utterly destructive impulse toward?) anything associated with Obama.
Greed. Pure, unmitigated greed. Health insurance in the US was largely Cooperatives, non-profits like Blue Cross and others started by professional associations or unions, or nonprofit group health practices, all which provided insurance during the 50s and 60s when employers HAD to offer benefits to attract skilled employees.
Then folks who worked in the for-profit insurance industry moved into the non-profits, where they watched their compatriots at companies like New York Life and Aetna with incomes many multiples of theirs, and convinced their boards that they would get better management and more efficiency if they became a for-profit insurer starting in the 90s. Management compensation jumped right along with the claim denials. The rest is too dreary.
Big Pharma and Big Insurance, along with for profit hospitals, all have more lobbyists in Washington than any health consumer organization. I’m hoping the really pissed off all show up and throw out all the bastards fighting universal health care.
- to him and his supporters, just a cost of getting the economy going again.