Health Care

LETTER: EMS facing financial burdens because of COVID 7/22/2020 Finger Lakes Times To the Editor: U.S. House Representatives Cindy Axne (D-IA), French Hill (R-AR), and John Larson (D-CT) are requesting for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to provide emergency medical services (EMS) with reimbursement for treatment in place (TIP) and telehealth facilitations. The request letter being circulated around Capitol Hill has been endorsed by the International Fire Chief's Association (IAFC), ... Read more

Addressing the other COVID crisis: Corruption 7/22/2020 Brookings The need for oversight of Trump administration coronavirus spending has reached an inflection point.[1] Over the past few weeks, there have been reports that 27 clients of Trump-connected lobbyists have received up to $10.5 billion of that spending;[2] that beneficiaries have also included multiple entities linked to the family of Jared Kushner and other Trump associates and political allies;[3] that up to $273 million was awarded... Read more

Conway, Ark. — Yesterday, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) joined Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) at the governor’s daily update about COVID-19. At the press conference, Rep. Hill urged central Arkansans to wear a mask and talked about his legislation, the SAVE Act, which ensures that the United States would have a reliable and necessary source of medical supplies during a future pandemic by amending the Defense Production Act to include U.S. medical supplies, vaccines, and primary ingredients for pharma... Read more

State confirms 794 more cases of coronavirus 7/15/2020 Arkansas Democrat Gazette After two days of smaller increases, Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases on Tuesday climbed by 794, the fourth-highest single-day rise so far. Meanwhile, in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, all six members of the state's congressional delegation joined Gov. Asa Hutchinson in calling on the White House to address the country's shortage of materials known as reagents, which laboratories need to conduct tests fo... Read more

Arkansas congressional delegation requests White House action to ensure testing reagent supply 07/14/2020 KNWA LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Arkansas’ congressional delegation sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence on Monday, requesting the White House Coronavirus Task Force take action to ensure the state has adequate testing reagent supply. The letter, made public by Representative French Hill on Twitter, notes that the delegation was recently advised that a reference lab used by many A... Read more

Dunford signals he won’t chair coronavirus panel in latest blow to new oversight body 7/14/2020 The Washington Post Former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Joseph F. Dunford Jr. has removed himself from consideration to chair the Congressional Oversight Commission, a key mechanism created by Congress in March that is supposed to scrutinize coronavirus spending, three people familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The five-member panel, which was established by the Cares Act, has just four member... Read more

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rep. French Hill (R-AR), Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence requesting that the White House Coronavirus Task Force take action to ensure an adequate supply of reagents for testing, particularly as the COVID-19 infection rate is beginning to rise in states like Arkansas and more testing is necessary. Arkansas hospitals have had their internal testing capaci... Read more

William Barr meets the press at Governor’s Mansion 7/9/2020 Arkansas Times Governor Hutchinson brought Attorney General William Barr out for exposure to media along with Rep. French Hill and Sen. Tom Cotton following what he called a “working lunch” at the Governor’s Mansion. Hutchinson said he’d asked Barr to pass along his interest in Donald Trump using the Defense Production Act to step up the production of materials necessary for coronavirus testing. Hutchinson also said, surprise, Barr had ... Read more

Little Rock, Ark. — Today, Rep. French Hill issued the following statement after Arkansas Governor Hutchinson announced that Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith has accepted a position with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Dr. Nate Smith has been an invaluable asset to the people of Arkansas. His selection to serve at the CDC affirms what we already knew here at home: his expertise and guidance will save lives during this pandemic. With his extensive background and ... Read more

Little Rock, Ark. — The members of the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Commission released the following statement this afternoon: “As members of the Congressional Oversight Commission, we have begun to review actions taken by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to implement certain CARES Act lending activities to help support and stabilize the economy. The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have announced the creation of emergency facilities that are within this commissi... Read more