It’s Thursday…
President Biden’s public schedule for 08/31/2023:
| 10:00 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time In-Town Pool |
| 11:00 AM Presidential Daily Breif | The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing Closed Press |
| 2:30 PM Press Briefing | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
Press Briefing @2:30 p.m. D.C., time:
Response to Hurricane Idalia and Maui Wildfires Retweet/Tweets.
From Wednesday…
The YouTube is 20 minutes and 10 seconds long. His full remarks (that the White House just posted @8:31 a.m. D.C., time) can be found here.
Earlier today, I made a point to speak to all the governors most likely to be impacted by this storm. I spoke with Governor DeSantis several times, Governor Kemp, Governor McMaster, and Governor Cooper about the impacts of the storm and — that made landfall at 7:45 this morning as a Category 3 hurricane.
White House.gov. 08/31/2023; remarks given on 08/30/2023.
And while we’re dealing with this latest extreme weather event, I remain laser-focused on recovering and rebuilding efforts in Maui.
[snip]
I directed my team to do everything we can for as long as it takes to help Maui recover and rebuild in a way that respects and honors Hawaiian traditions and cultures and the needs of the local community. We’re not going to turn this into a new land grab. We’re not trying to have — see multimillion-dollar homes on the beach.
White House.gov. 08/31/2023; remarks given on 08/30/2023.
In a few moments, I’m going to meet with my entire Cabinet in the next room over who are leading the federal recovery and rebuilding efforts and report on their progress in providing the urgently needed support to the people of Maui.
White House.gov. 08/31/2023; remarks given on 08/30/2023.
Today, I’m announcing that $95 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is on the way to Hawaii to harden the ground power — harden the grid we talk about.
[snip]
The Department of Energy — you know, Secretary, we’re going to be talking about this in a minute — accelerated the announcement of this funding to meet the moment.
White House.gov. 08/31/2023; remarks given on 08/30/2023.
From Thursday…
Show more =’s are on the ground to work with the first responders in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, get people to safety, and begin to recover from the storm’s impact.
And early Monday morning, long before the storm made landfall, I spoke with Governor DeSantis and approved an early request for emergency declaration to enable him to have the full support ahead of time to protect the peoples’ lives in the state of Florida.
I — we surged personnel to Florida to help the state move people quickly to safety and out of the danger zone and to help the governor and his team to the greatest degree possible in advance — in advance of the hurricane’s arrival.
And I directed the FEMA to
White House.gov. 08/31/2023; remarks given on 08/30/2023.redeploy[pre-deploy] resources, including up to 1,500 personnel and 900 Coast Guard personnel, throughout the Southeast.
The White House posted…
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Florida Disaster Declaration
Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Florida and ordered Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Idalia beginning on August 27, 2023, and continuing.
White House.gov. 08/31/2023.
The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, and Taylor.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funding is also available to State, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal and emergency protective measures in the counties of Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, and Taylor. For a continuous 30-day period of the State’s choosing within the first 120 days from the start of the incident period, assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, is authorized at 100 percent of the total eligible costs.
Lastly, Federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Mr. Brett H. Howard of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
Damage assessments are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.
Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362), or by using the FEMA App. Anyone using a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, can give FEMA the number for that service.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.
Medicare Tweets
From Wednesday…
The White House posted…
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces First Ten Drugs Selected for Medicare Price Negotiation (08/29/2023).
[snip]
| Drug Name | Commonly Treated Conditions | Total Part D Gross Covered Prescription Drug Costs from June 2022-May 2023 | Number of Medicare Part D Enrollees Who Used the Drug from June 2022-May 2023 | Average Part D Covered Prescription Drug Costs Per Enrollee |
| Eliquis | Prevention and treatment of blood clots | $16,482,621,000 | 3,706,000 | $4,448 |
| Jardiance | Diabetes; Heart failure | $7,057,707,000 | 1,573,000 | $4,487 |
| Xarelto | Prevention and treatment of blood clots; Reduction of risk for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease | $6,031,393,000 | 1,337,000 | $4,511 |
| Januvia | Diabetes | $4,087,081,000 | 869,000 | $4,703 |
| Farxiga | Diabetes; Heart failure; Chronic kidney disease | $3,268,329,000 | 799,000 | $4,091 |
| Entresto | Heart failure | $2,884,877,000 | 587,000 | $4,915 |
| Enbrel | Rheumatoid arthritis; Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis | $2,791,105,000 | 48,000 | $58,148 |
| Imbruvica | Blood cancers | $2,663,560,000 | 20,000 | $133,178 |
| Stelara | Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis | $2,638,929,000 | 22,000 | $119,951 |
| Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill | Diabetes | $2,576,586,000 | 777,000 | $3,316 |
The video clip is 1 minute and 27 seconds long. It’s an overview of how high prescriptions were and how through the Biden Administrations efforts those prices are coming down.
UNC–Chapel Hill’s Student Newspaper Tweet
From Wednesday…
The front page of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Newspaper The Daily Tar Heel following an on campus shooting that left Zijie Yan, an associate professor dead. The texts featured on the front page are texts received during the hours long lockdown of campus.
Snips from the article:
The new edition of The Daily Tar Heel was supposed to be about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s upcoming football season. Then an armed person was reported to be on campus Monday afternoon. The university went into an hourslong lockdown. The suspect was later arrested in the fatal shooting of a faculty member.
[snip]
“We said, ‘Well, we can’t do that. We need something impactful,’” said Caitlyn Yaede, the Tar Heel’s print managing editor. “We need something that’s going to really communicate the gravity of the situation.”
Then the idea came — very late Monday night. Emmy Martin, the 2023-24 editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel, was in bed and looking through all the text messages she’d received during the lockdown. She hadn’t had a chance to respond to them. She also saw social media posts from some of her UNC peers who posted the text messages they’d received.
[snip]
The Daily Tar Heel is an independent nonprofit newspaper and, though it is an official student organization at UNC, it does not receive university support. Mitchell said part of her role as general manager is to help train and guide the student journalists. But they make their own decisions.
Poynter.org. 08/30/2023.
Bilateral Meeting Tweet
From Thursday…
The video clip is 47 seconds long.
Remarks by President Biden and President Rodrigo Chaves Robles of Costa Rica Before Bilateral Meeting (08/29/2023)…
President Biden:
Well, Mr. President, it’s great to welcome you back to the White House. It’s great to be by your side again.
[snip]
But today, I also want to thank you for deepening our security cooperation. That’s one of my objectives today and, I hope, yours — including dealing with organized crime.
White House.gov. 08/29/2023.
And as we discussed, our work through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity to help grow our economies from the bottom up and the middle out, not just the top down.
And — because our nations are not only united by the challenges we face, but we’re united — what I’ve found with you, Mr. President, is we’re united by the vision we share — by the vision we share. A vision for a future of greater opportunity and freedom and equality and, quite frankly, dignity — dignity for all our people.
Overdose Awareness Day Tweet
From Thursday…
Show more =’s support they need. My Administration will continue to ensure that our nation has the resources we need to address the overdose epidemic.
The White House posted…
Biden-Harris Administration hosting Families of Overdose Event today at the White House
Today, on International Overdose Awareness Day, the Biden-Harris administration is recognizing all those who have lost someone to an overdose. President Biden declared August 27 through September 2 as Overdose Awareness Week to focus the nation’s attention on the devastation caused by illicit fentanyl and other drugs. During this week of recognition, we reaffirm our commitment to beating this epidemic — in memory of those we have lost and to protect the lives we can still save.
Today, in support of President Biden’s Unity Agenda efforts to beat the overdose epidemic and save lives, the Biden-Harris administration is announcing more than $450 million to strengthen prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services and crack down on illicit drug trafficking. Later today, the Biden-Harris Administration will host family members from across the country at the White House who have lost loved ones to a drug overdose. Families will have the opportunity to share their personal stories, and discuss ways we can all work together to end the overdose epidemic.
Saving lives is the North Star of President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy, and after a years-long period of rapid increases in the overdose death rate from 2019 – 2021, the United States is now seeing continued progress in flattening this trend. The latest CDC report released earlier this month marked 13 months straight of leveling off of overdose deaths. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to building on this progress and doubling down on all efforts to reduce drug overdose deaths, save lives, and make our communities safer. These latest Biden-Harris administration-wide efforts will:
Strengthen Prevention Efforts
- The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is announcing approximately $20.5 million to 164 new Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The new awards join 587 previously awarded continuation grant recipients, for a total of 751 funded community coalitions, the highest number in the program’s 25-year history. This represents a total FY 2023 investment by the Biden-Harris Administration of more than $93.8 million to support evidence-based prevention efforts locally.
- ONDCP is investing an additional $1 million dollars into its Real Deal on Fentanyl campaign with the Ad Council. The campaign aims to reach young people, who are the fastest-growing age group to experience opioid overdose in the United States. Since launching in fall 2022, the campaign has garnered 946.9M impressions.
Support State and Local Treatment and Recovery Efforts
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is awarding $279 million in Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) grants to states and localities to expand harm reduction strategies, link people to life-saving care, and make the latest data available so that we can get ahead of the constantly evolving overdose crisis. For the first time, in addition to funding state health departments to prevent drug overdose, CDC is providing funding to directly support city, county, and territorial health departments, filling a distinct gap in funding for local communities. Both the state and local efforts include a focus on collecting and using data to inform action, engaging people with lived experience, and addressing health disparities. CDC tailored these funding opportunities to best serve partners at state, local, and territorial levels. State health departments may be best equipped to serve state-level surveillance efforts, as well as state-wide Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) practices. Local health departments can leverage proximity to local communities to better engage in harm reduction and linkage to and retention in care efforts. Funded recipients will be able to respond more quickly, more effectively, and more equitably to their constituents’ needs, using and translating data to drive action steps that reduce overdose deaths and related harms in communities as fast as possible.
- The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is awarding more than $80 million to rural communities in 39 states to support key strategies to respond to the overdose risk from illicit fentanyl and other opioids. These awards will support interventions such as distributing the lifesaving overdose reversal drug naloxone to prevent fatal overdose; creating and expanding treatment sites in rural areas to provide medications to treat opioid use disorder; expanding access to behavioral health care for young people in rural communities; and, caring for infants in rural areas who are at-risk for opioid exposure or experiencing symptoms related opioid exposure.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding more than $57.6 million to connect Americans to substance use treatment and recovery support services, including:
- $1.7 million to the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Program, which establishes or implements comprehensive treatment and recovery centers. These centers provide a full spectrum of treatment, harm reduction and recovery support services to address the opioid epidemic and ensure access to all three Food and Drug Administration-approved Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD).
- $29.6 million to the Promoting the Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care Program, which promotes the improvement of integrated care models for behavioral health care and primary/physical health care to improve the overall wellness and physical health status of adults who have a serious mental illness (SMI); adults who have co-occurring mental illness and physical health conditions or chronic disease; children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED) who have co-occurring physical health conditions or chronic disease; individuals who have substance use disorders (SUD); or individuals who have co-occurring substance use and mental disorders (COD); and promotes the implementation and improvement of bidirectional integrated care services.
- $1.2 million to the Recovery Community Services Program, which provides peer recovery support services to individuals with SUD or COD, including those in recovery from these disorders. The program’s foundation is the value of lived experience of peers to assist others in achieving and maintaining recovery. These services, in conjunction with clinical treatment services, are an integral component of the recovery process for many people.
- $735,000 to the Recovery Community Services Program-Statewide Network Program, which strengthens community-based recovery organizations, their statewide networks of recovery stakeholders and specialty and general health care systems as key partners in the delivery of state and local recovery support services through collaboration, systems improvement, public health messaging and training conducted for or with key recovery groups.
- $6.6 million to the Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Training Grant Program, which recruits and trains EMS personnel in rural areas with a particular focus on addressing SUD and COD. Recipients will be expected to train EMS personnel on SUD and COD, trauma-informed, recovery-based care for people with such disorders in emergency situations and, as appropriate, to maintain licenses and certifications relevant to serve in an EMS agency.
- $15.8 million to the Treatment for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness, Serious Emotional Disturbance, or Co-Occurring Disorders Experiencing Homelessness Program, which provides comprehensive, coordinated and evidenced-based services for individuals, youth, and families with SMI, SED, or COD who are experiencing homelessness or are at imminent risk of homelessness (e.g., people exiting jail or prison without a place to live).
- $2 million to the Treatment, Recovery, and Workforce Support Grant Program, which implements evidence-based programs to support individuals in SUD treatment and recovery to live independently and participate in the workforce. Award recipients will be expected to ascertain gaps in the workforce and coordinate statewide employment and training activities for participants enrolled in their program with SUD in treatment and recovery.
Disrupt And Dismantle Illicit Drug Trafficking Operations
- ONDCP is announcing more than $18.9 million in FY 2023 discretionary funding for its High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program, adding to the more than $275 million provided in base funding released earlier this year. This new allocation of funds will support discretionary projects in 33 regional HIDTAs and the National HIDTA Assistance Center. The funding includes $6.75 million for the creation and expansion of Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGICs) in 27 regional HIDTAs. These CGICs are operated in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and are a critical part of addressing the violence that frequently accompanies illicit drug trafficking. Taken together, these measures will help save lives and make our communities safer.
Read President Biden’s full Proclamation on Overdose Awareness Week HERE.
This is an Open Thread.
