As the final shipment of personal protection equipment from the Strategic National Stockpile has arrived for Kansas, Governor Laura Kelly is hopeful they will be able to see more shipments coming in from elsewhere very soon.
Governor Kelly began her daily news briefing Friday afternoon by announced that the shipment arrived around 11 pm Thursday evening.
Later, Governor Kelly stated Kansas has only received around 90 percent of the allocation anticipated and Kansas will not be receiving the remaining 10 percent. According to Kelly, the decision was made to allocate that remaining ten percent to areas “in more need.”
Kelly says the state has put in six requests for equipment since mid-March and has yet to receive those shipments at this time. The Governor says she is hopeful they will arrive soon as the state plans to “clear out” its inventory by next Tuesday.
Governor Kelly also says the main priority will be getting PPE to the “front line people” such as medical staff and emergency personnel during this time. The Kansas National Guard and the Kansas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol will be distributing materials contained in the recent shipment to all 105 Kansas Counties in the coming days.
Equipment delivered Thursday includes N95 masks, surgical masks, face shields, gloves and surgical gowns.
Also during the briefing, Governor Kelly announced that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas is waving cost-sharing for treatment of COVID-19 for the next 60 days. This includes coverage for testing and treatment administered at a doctors office, urgent care facility, emergency room as well as inpatient hospital stays.
The announcement applies to fully insured members along with those who receive their insurance through medicare advantage plans. According to the announcement, Blue Cross will also be working with self-funded customers looking to implement a similar approach to help meet their needs as well.
