Kansas City, Kan - The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 27 COVID patients today, 30 yesterday. Other significant numbers:

• 11 with the active virus today, 12 yesterday
• 1 in ICU, 2 yesterday
• 0 on a ventilator, 0 yesterday

Key points from today’s guests:

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System

• Today’s program covers a lot of important information about COVID with the public health emergency declared over.
• First, this may affect health insurance coverage. Patients should make sure they can continue to get COVID-related health care covered.
• Some aspects of telehealth were set to expire, but recent changes mean it will continue for the time being.
• This is a big deal for patients who live in rural areas or have a hard time with transportation. The more we keep telehealth easier, the easier it will be to keep people healthy.
• Before the pandemic, the Health System was performing about 100 telehealth visits every month. Now we're doing about 600 telehealth visits a day, which could increase.
• There is concern about cutting back on public health funding as well as fatigue over new vaccines and preventive measures for any potential new COVID variants.
• “Listen to the real data from the public health officials in this country who have done an amazing job on this pandemic, and then be a supporter,” Dr. Stites said. “Both of each other and those of us who are trying to help you. In other words, we want you to be well, and the best way to do it, stay together.”
  
  

Loretta Stoufer, director of admitting, The University of Kansas Health System

• Based on the declaration of the end of the public health emergency for COVID, people could lose their Medicaid coverage.
• People will be notified by their state, indicating they need to renew their eligibility for Medicaid coverage to pay for things like medications, COVID vaccines, and regular office visits.
• As of May 11, approximately 5 to 14 million people across the country could lose their Medicaid coverage. This will affect their ability to get care or continuous care. In Missouri, estimates range around 500,000 people, and in Kansas, closer to 300,000.
• People should visit their payer’s portals or websites, contacting member services on the back of their card or reaching out to the Health System for help.
• Find more information about COVID emergency changes at KansasHealthSytem.com/PHE.

Dr. Gregory Poland, director, vaccine research group, Mayo Clinic

• Dr. Poland is concerned people will misunderstand that when the end of a public health emergency is declared, it doesn’t mean COVID is gone. He said we could very well this fall see a new variant even more immune evasive and would require going back to some level of mitigation procedures.
• There are about an additional 2,000 mutations that could occur and still lead to a fifth virus, so we could see new waves of new variant infections over time.
• He expressed concern about another outbreak and how it could be worse because the public would be more unwilling to take a vaccine or participate in mitigation measures like masking.
• The COVID vaccines we have are excellent, and only time will tell about new vaccines in the future.
• There's already been movement toward a nasal spray vaccine, an inhaled vaccine, an oral tablet vaccine as well as a potential patch.
  
  

Jason Grundstrom, executive director, continuum of care, The University of Kansas Health System

• Telehealth rules, which were loosened during the pandemic, were set to expire until an extension was granted.
• From a patient perspective, up until the end of next year, patients can still be seen at their house in the comfort of their home or wherever the patient doesn't have to go to a healthcare clinic. The provider should be able to be able to see them no matter where they are in the country via telehealth.
• Providers can still see patients virtually and prescribe controlled substances without having to have an in-person encounter.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, The University of Kansas Health System

• From March 2020 to this past Monday, the Health System has seen 5,858 unique COVID patients, with 6,591 total COVID hospital admissions (some patients had to be admitted more than once).
• There were 1,450 ICU patients and 1,215 deaths.
• COVID is still circulating, and we’ll need to monitor for other viruses as well, including the avian flu and mpox.
  
  

Thursday, May 11 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update.

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