Texas Medicaid To Cover Mosquito Repellent Amid Zika Fears
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AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — State health officials say Texas Medicaid will cover the cost of mosquito repellent for pregnant women amid concerns over the Zika virus.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced Wednesday that women between the ages of 10 and 45 are also eligible to have Medicaid pay for prescribed repellent from a doctor. The state says eligible women should be able to begin picking up the repellent August 9 and can get up to two cans per month through October 31.
The announcement comes as the first mosquito-transmitted cases in the mainland U.S. have been discovered in Florida. At least 15 people have become infected around Miami.
Texas officials say there have been 90 confirmed cases of travel-related Zika in Texas.
Zika infections in pregnant women can cause severe brain-related birth defects.
In addtion to the new coverage helping low-income Texans, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, on Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded Texas $720,000 to "establish, enhance, and maintain information-gathering systems to rapidly detect microcephaly–a serious birth defect of the brain–and other adverse outcomes caused by Zika virus infection."
The announcement about the CDC funding coincided with news from Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) that a 14th case of imported Zika virus had been identified in the county. This latest patient had traveled to Grenada, a country with known local transmission of Zika.
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