80,000 children in Delaware are expected to take advantage of the federal allocations for food.

Delaware part of national pilot of summer food stamps program

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Government

About 80,000 Delaware children are eligible to receive $120 extra in federal food benefits this summer to replace free lunches at school. Students who will get the benefit must come from families who are already qualified for the benefits, or meet income guidelines and qualify before summer.  The state’s cost for the program will be about $1.5 million to administer, …

DEFAC Medicaid State taxes budget

Delaware seems destined to have hard budget choices next year

Betsy PriceGovernment, Headlines

Delaware budget forecasts show that revenues and expenditures for 2025 are running at almost the same level as this year, which had a budget of $6.1 billion. Even so, Dover politicians may have to scramble to figure out how to accommodate an additional $400 million in expenses for 2025. That’s what Cerron Cade, director of the state Office of Budget …

budget

State’s 2024 budget of $5.6 billion jumps 10% over 2023

Sam HautGovernment, Headlines

A 2024 state budget that’s 10% higher than 2023’s led eight Republicans to vote against it Thursday in the House of Representatives, but that didn’t stop it from passing. House Bill 195, sponsored by Rep. William Carson, D-Smyrna, delineated how the $5.6 billion budget will be spent over the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Carson is the vice …

Seaford Library kiosk

State campaign to encourage use of library privacy kiosks

Sam HautHeadlines, Government

The state plans a marketing campaign to encourage more residents to use Social Service Kiosks that now exist in some libraries to access medical and other private services. The soundproof booths are located in 13 different libraries across the state.  Health and library officials hoped they would help some of Delaware’s more disadvantaged populations get the help they needed to …

RSV virus

COVID, flu, RSV case rise could mean holiday tripledemic

Betsy PriceHealth, Headlines

  As the number of cases of three winter respiratory viruses rise sharply in Delaware, state officials on Monday asked residents to take action to protect themselves and their families. Gov. John Carney compared the increasing numbers of COVID to rises at this time in 2020 and 2021, leading into the holidays. State health officials would like to avoid a …

maxresdefault

Delaware’s top doctor to step down

Charlie MegginsonHeadlines, Health

Dr. Karryl Rattay will leave her post as director of the Delaware Division of Public Health on June 30.  Rattay took the job in 2009 during the swine flu pandemic. She is currently the nation’s longest-serving public health director. “It has been the greatest honor of my lifetime to serve Delawareans in this role,” Rattay said Friday. “I am grateful …

costaware

New CostAware site compares bills for state hospital services, stays

Betsy PriceHeadlines, Health

  A new state website compares the average costs for different kinds of services at Delaware hospitals, based on actual medical claims. But don’t get too excited about the comparisons on CostAware. None of the information is tagged to a specific hospital, although in a few cases, it’s easy to guess which institution the information came from. Without any IDs, …

Carney allows McGuiness to hire outside lawyer for Medicaid audit

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness has been granted permission to hire outside counsel in her office’s ongoing subpoena case with the Department of Health and Social Services. Her office has been trying since May to get DHSS to hand over documents necessary to complete a performance audit of the agency’s Medicaid eligibility programs. McGuiness says she’s faced obstacles while conducting audits …

Del. health department marks 100,000 substance abuse treatment referrals

Charlie MegginsonHeadlines, Health

Katy L. Pack/Getty Images The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services has surpassed a milestone of 100,000 Delawareans to substance use and mental health services. Referrals are made through the Delaware Treatment and Referral Network, conducted by the agency’s Division of Substance Use and Mental Health. Delaware is the first state to make more than 100,000 referrals using the …

Delaware sees 1,000+ new COVID-19 cases four days in a row

Charlie MegginsonHeadlines, Health

Delaware broke its all-time record for new daily cases of COVID-19. One day later, it broke the record again. Photo by Sam Johnson/Pixabay. The day after Delaware broke its all-time record for new daily cases of COVID-19, the record was broken again. On Christmas Eve, 1,587 Delawareans tested positive for the virus. The previous state record was 1,393 on Dec. …