HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Declares Public Health Emergency for Georgia, Additional ASPR Personnel and Resources Deployed to the Region in Response to Hurricane Helene

Emergency personnel will augment state and local response efforts 

Today, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a Public Health Emergency (PHE) for Georgia to address the health impacts of Hurricane Helene following yesterday’s announcement of a PHE for Florida. To date, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response has pre-positioned approximately 200 medical providers and disaster management professionals in Florida, Alabama, with additional personnel in route to North Carolina, to address the potential health impacts of Hurricane Helene.

“We will do all we can to assist Georgia officials respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” said Secretary Becerra. “We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”

ASPR’s deployed personnel include multiple Health Care Situational Assessment Teams (HCSAT) who stand ready to assess the storm’s impacts to hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, and other health care facilities and four Health and Medical Task Forces and one Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) from the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) for rapid response following assessment findings. A subject matter expert from NDMS’ Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team is providing virtual support.

The PHE declarations follow President Biden’s emergency declarations for Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, and give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

“ASPR has deployed teams to assist in a rapid combined federal and multi-state response to Hurricane Helene,” said Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. “We are on the ground and ready to support local health requests.”

HHS has also taken the following proactive measures to help support the needs of the region:

• The HHS emPOWER program, is available to identify the number of Medicare beneficiaries in affected zips codes who rely on electricity-dependent durable medical equipment and certain healthcare services, such as dialysis, oxygen tank, or home health, to help anticipate, plan for, and respond to the needs of at-risk citizens in potentially impacted areas.
• HHS offers free crisis counseling through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Disaster Distress Helpline. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters. To connect with a trained counselor, call or text 1-800-985-5990. Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. Callers also can connect with counselors in more than 100 other languages via third-party interpretation services by indicating their preferred language to the responding counselor.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has many safety materials available on their website, including storm safety, food safety, and power outage safety information. CDC has also shared vital health and safety messaging and communication materials with public health officials in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama and are ready to provide additional environmental public health resources and support as needed.
• HHS has waived sanctions and penalties for violations of certain provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule against hospitals in the emergency areas. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a bulletin explaining how this Florida limited waiver and the Georgia limited waiver applies and its duration.

In declaring the public health emergency and authorizing flexibilities for CMS providers, suppliers, and beneficiaries, Secretary Becerra acted within his authority under the Public Health Service Act and Social Security Act. These actions and flexibilities are retroactive to September 23, 2024.