Slippery roads blamed for several accidents….No surprises Medical bill becomes law Saturday…..Nearly 80% of PA residents now vaccinated….
Today’s podcast:
Slippery roads are blamed for a couple of accidents in the region. State police at Coudersport say Alexis Morse of Ulysses was going north on Fox Hill Road in Ulysses Township Monday afternoon when her Ford F250Supercab slid across the road, hit a ditch and an embankment before rollover over. Two passengers and a dog escaped injury but Morse was taken to UPMC Cole for medical assessment. The driver was been cited for speeding.
Minor injuries were reported for one driver involved in weather-related collision Tuesday evening in Fox Township, Elk County. Troopers at Ridgway report the collision occurred when a Dodge Dakota driven by 75 year old Ronald Aumen of St. Marys encountered snow and slush while going north on Route 255 and crossed the center line where it collided with a Chevrolet Traverse driven by Bridget Forster on Weedville. Auman was not hurt but Forster was taken to Penn Highlands Elk for treatment of minor injuries.
Troopers at Ridgway are looking for a hit and run vehicle which damaged a fire hydrant on The Bennetts Valley Highway at around 8:15 am Tuesday. The unknown unit was going north when it went off the pavement and collided with a fire hydrant which was pulled out of the ground. The driver failed to stop to notify police of the collision.
Icy roads resulted in a one-vehicle accident Tuesday evening in Keating Township, McKean County. According to state police at Lewis Run, 76 year old Jerry Stauffer of Bradford was headed south on Route 46 near Columbia Hill Road when his Toyota Camry slid into a ditch and rotated 180 degrees before stopping. Stauffer was using a seat belt and was not hurt.
An Eldred motorist escaped injury Tuesday afternoon in a collision occurring on Main Street in that town. State police say Troy Fitzsimmons was going north when his Chevrolet Silverado went off the road, struck a parked vehicle, and slid through some grass before stopping against a natural gas pipeline.
A Bradford driver also escaped injury in a one-vehicle accident Monday afternoon on Route 219 in Lafayette Township, McKean County. According to troopers at Lewis Run, Peter Moonan was speeding when his Chevrolet Silverado went off the road, struck an embankment and traveled some 200 feet before stopping.
State police at Lewis Run claim Garren Black of Shinglehouse was speeding Monday morning when his Ford F250 Supercab slid off of Route 146 and collided with a tractor parked along the road. Black and his passenger Dustin Zetwick of Smethport escaped injury.
The federal No Surprises Act takes effect Jan. 1 protecting patients from surprise medical bills in situations where they have little to no control over who provides their care.Signed into law in 2020, the law defines a surprise medical bill as an
unexpected medical cost incurred by a patient when they’ve unknowingly obtained health care services by an out-of-network provider. In cases of emergency or non-emergency services, the No Surprises Act protects patients from being billed for more than what they would have paid if those other providers were in-network.
Only services provided on or after January 1, 2022 will be covered under the protections of the new law. You can find out more about the law and what you should do if you receive a surprise bill here.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has provided a weekly COVID-19 update as of Monday, Dec. 27.
Officials say “Regardless of your vaccination status, it is still important to get tested if you have symptoms or have possibly been exposed.”
According to the CDC, as of Monday, Dec. 27, 73.9% of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated. This percentage reflects all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.This week, the Department of Health analyzed the following vaccine data within its 66-county vaccine jurisdiction; Philadelphia is a separate vaccine jurisdiction:
279,989 vaccine doses were administered in the past week, including:
o 146,007 booster doses administered in the past week.
o 23,348 pediatric doses administered in the past week.
- 31.1% decrease in vaccines administered from previous week, largely attributed to the Christmas holiday.
Here is a statewide summary of COVID-19 trends over the past 7 days Monday, Dec. 20 –Sunday, Dec. 26:
- The daily average number of cases was 9,979.
The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday, Dec. 27 was 0.4 percent lower than on Dec. 20. The percent of available adult and pediatric ICU beds in the state rose to 18% and 17%, respectively.
The PA Department of Health has updated Covid-19 information for counties in the Black Forest Broadcasting Service Area as of noon Wednesday December 29 , 2021
CAMERON 430
ELK-2805
McKEAN-4951
POTTER-2292
TIOGA-4608
ALLEGANY (NY)- 6908
CATTARAUGUS (NY) 11,372