HHS Declares Public Health Emergencies in Florida and Alabama Following Hurricane Isaias
Washington — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on October 14 that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. determined on October 13 that public health emergencies exist in Florida and Alabama as a result of Hurricane Isaias. The determinations follow President Trump's October 9 emergency declarations for both states.
The declarations allow HHS to authorize temporary waivers and modifications of certain requirements, helping the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) support health care providers and suppliers serving people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in the covered emergency areas. The flexibilities are retroactive to October 6, 2026, in Florida and October 7, 2026, in Alabama. CMS on October 15 published blanket waivers and additional resources for affected providers in both states, along with a channel for requesting further 1135 waivers.
HHS said its Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) pre-positioned regional staff in areas at risk before the storm made landfall, deployed Healthcare System Assessment Teams to evaluate the storm's impact on health care facilities, and shared HHS emPOWER datasets with states in the storm's path. The data help responders identify, by geographic area, Medicare beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment or essential services such as facility-based dialysis and home health care.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于华盛顿特区的卫生与公众服务部总部休伯特·汉弗莱大楼，APK 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons / The Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. Photo: APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
