Public health emergency (United States)

In the United States, a public health emergency declaration releases resources meant to handle an actual or potential public health crisis. Recent examples include incidents of flooding, constipation, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak. Homeland Security

Homeland security

Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...

Secretary Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano is the third and current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She is the fourth person to hold the position, which was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the 21st...

described it as a "declaration of emergency preparedness."

The National Disaster Medical System

National Disaster Medical System

The National Disaster Medical System is a section of the United States Department of Health and Human Services responsible for managing Federal government's medical response to major emergencies and disasters....

Federal Partners Memorandum of Agreement defines a public health emergency as "an emergency need for health care [medical] services to respond to a disaster, significant outbreak of an infectious disease, bioterrorist attack or other significant or catastrophic event. For purposes of NDMS activation, a public health emergency may include but is not limited to, public health emergencies declared by the Secretary of HHS [Health and Human Services] under 42 U.S.C. 247d, or a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), 42 U.S.C. 5121-5206)."

The declaration of public health emergency in the March 2009 flood

2009 Red River flood

The 2009 Red River flood along the Red River of the North in North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States and Manitoba in Canada brought record flood levels to the Fargo-Moorhead area. The flood was a result of saturated and frozen ground, Spring snowmelt exacerbated by additional rain and snow...

of the Red River

Red River of the North

The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...

in North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

was made under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act

Public Health Service Act

The Public Health Service Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1944. The full act is captured under Title 42 of the United States Code "The Public Health and Welfare", Chapter 6A "Public Health Service"....

. Under section 1135 of the Social Security Act, this declaration permits the state government to request waivers of certain Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration , is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer...

(CMS) Regional Office. Examples include allowing Medicare health plan beneficiaries to go out of network, allowing critical access hospitals to take more than the statutorily mandated limit of 25 patients, and not counting the expected longer lengths of stay for evacuated patients against the 96-hour average.

In the swine flu outbreak, the declaration allowed the distribution of a federal stockpile of 12 million doses of Tamiflu to places where states could quickly get their share if they decide they need it, with priority going to the five states with known cases. Because Obama's choice for Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician currently serving as the 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was the second female Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address, and chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors...

, had not yet been confirmed, the public announcement of the emergency was made by President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano. However, the formal determination of a public health emergency was made by Charles Johnson, acting HHS secretary, under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. § 247d.

A military health emergency is defined by the NDMS as "an emergency need for hospital services to support the armed forces for casualty care arising from a major military operation, disaster, significant outbreak of an infectious disease, bioterrorist attack, or other significant or catastrophic event."

See also