Our county health department has been in the news for years. It seems like every year they come out with new rules and regulations and new things they need to do in order to keep the “healthy” in our community. For example, this year, the health department changed the way they test our water due to a new water supply testing it for bacteria.
This is the latest of several health department updates. The latest, and the most interesting, was a new rule that will change the way water is treated. Instead of discarding the water after it is treated, now the water is treated and sent back to the water treatment plant for further treatment. The good news is that this rule won’t affect any other counties in the state.
This is the latest rule, but the one that will affect the health department is one of the biggest ones of all. Last year, the health department announced that if you live in Texas, the Texas Department of Health wants you to be tested for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. If you have any of these three diseases, you need to pay a fine of $1,000 per year.
The health department’s new rule is an attempt to ensure that not only are they the only ones making more money from our health care, but that they’re also the only ones making the most money from our health care. After all, a lot of this is going to be a lot more expensive for everyone else. If the health department wants to try and make a buck, they’re going to need your cooperation.
The new rule is a form of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance companies to cover hepatitis B and hepatitis C for their employees. The Health Department will soon put up posters around the county advising businesses to include the new rules in their contracts so that their employees are protected. They are also encouraging all businesses to make hepatitis A and hepatitis B a requirement on their contracts.
That’s right, I said mandatory. Most of the country has it and the government wants to mandate it. You might be a bit surprised at how many people have it. The health department is hoping that by making it a requirement for all employers and all employees they can reduce the rate of hepatitis among the population.
Hepatitis is a deadly virus that has been around for around 25 years. It spreads via the consumption of contaminated food or water or by person-to-person contact. It is a very dangerous disease for which there is no cure. It can also be passed from one person to another. This is where the health department’s new rules come into play.
Employers who fail to implement mandatory hepatitis testing will be fined $250 per employee who tests positive. Most employers will be required to do so by June of this year. Employees will be required to test at least once a year and those who test positive will be suspended for 90 days.
As is often the case with public health departments, there is also a big difference between those who are truly dedicated enough to the disease and those who aren’t. A lot of people, especially those who have been infected with hepatitis, don’t take their own personal risk seriously enough to get tested. They don’t think hepatitis is deadly until it is too late. They do not take the time to seek medical attention. In the meantime, they go without getting tested.
This is the case for the county that is the source of the new disease. The county of Yarnell, Georgia was struck by an unusual disease in September, 2019. People who were exposed to the disease became too weak to be treated. The affected patients were transferred to Yarnell to be treated by the local hospital, but they were unable to be treated at first.
