(orchestral music)
- Well, welcome to the 700 Club.
Today, we start with a very sad story,
a deadly tragedy in Israel.
At least 44 people werekilled in a stampede
at a religious festival anddozens more were injured.
It was one of the worst civilian disasters
in Israel's history.
- A spokesman for the rescueservice said, "In one moment
"we went from a happy event
"to an immense tragedy."
Prime Minister, BenjaminNetanyahu, has declared Sunday
a day of national mourning.
Chris Mitchell brings usthe story from Jerusalem.
- [Chris] The tragedyoccurred when a stampede began
at the festival of LagBa'omer, a Jewish holiday
honoring a rabbi and mysticfrom the second century
who was buried on MountMeron in northern Israel.
The disaster was apparentlycaused by overcrowding
with large numbers togetherin a narrow passage.
- (speaking foreign language)
- [Translator] We saw peoplepushing over the other
and slowly, we saw people being trampled.
At this point, when I saw the people,
I started to go outside.
There, we saw evacuatingpeople every moment
and conducting CPR.
- [Chris] It was thefirst religious gathering
of its size to be heldlegally since Israel lifted
nearly all restrictionsfrom the COVID pandemic.
- (speaking foreign language)
- [Translator] Absolutely difficult sight.
I'm about 10 years aparamedic and I don't remember
ever seeing sights like these.
We are in a mass casualty incident.
I see here, tens of peoplelaying in the floor.
I see here, at tens ofinjured, walking and bleeding.
I see here, children and adults.
A very difficult sight.
- [Chris] The Israeli military came in
to help evacuate the wounded.
Officials estimate 100,000mostly Ultra-Orthodox Jews
gathered to celebrate the festival.
Large crowds traditionallylight bonfires, pray,
and dance as part of the celebrations.
Prime Minister, BenjaminNetanyahu, visited the site
and earlier had called it a great tragedy.
This stampede is likely to havea political impact, as well.
Netanyahu needs the supportof his longtime allies,
the Ultra-Orthodox, to maintain any hopes
he might have of staying in power.
Today, efforts are underwayto identify the victims
and connect familieswith missing relatives.
Authorities will be searching for answers.
As Netanyahu said, "Everyone will be
"praying for the victims."
Chris Mitchell, CBS News, Jerusalem.
- Well, it's a terribletragedy and it's underlined
by what they were celebrating.
Lag Ba'omer is logos 33 in Hebrew
so they're counting the Omer.
And the counting of theOmer is from Passover
to Shavuot, what we call Pentecost.
So it's counting the numberof days and it's 50 days
for, you know, Pentecost means 50,
between the Passover celebration
and then the giving ofthe Torah at Mount Sinai.
This 33-day celebration wasintended to honor a rabbi
from the second century,but it was also intended
to honor the breaking of a plague.
So the celebration witha hundred thousand people
coming out as the firsttime that you can have
a public gathering afterthe COVID pandemic,
they were celebratingthe end of the plague.
What happened was the crowd was dispersing
and they were being funneledthrough a narrow corridor
that was a series of stonesteps leading down to metal.
And then there was, it got wet
and literally, people slipped.
And the report is therewas an avalanche of people
down these stairs and intothis narrow passageway
which caused panic.
It's a horrible tragedyand underlining that, well,
this pandemic isn't really over.
And let's go to India for proofthat it's exploding there.
Today, the health ministryreported nearly 3,500 more deaths
and more than 386,000 new cases.
The situation is now desperate,hospitals shutting down
amid a critical shortageof ventilators and oxygen.
George Thomas has that story.
- At New Delhi's InternationalAirport, planes from the US,
Russia, and UK loadedwith desperately needed
medical equipment and suppliesarrived in the country.
- The situation is critical, right now.
This pandemic is the worstwe have ever seen till now.
- [George] At least200,000 have died so far,
though experts believe the actual number
could be much higher.
Priti Choudhry heads up CBN'soffice in New Delhi, India.
- The numbers, whatever itis that you've got out there
are probably beingunder-reported because right now,
people are fighting even tosay goodbye to their dead.
And really, it's like a wildfire
and we are overwhelmed.
I think the system is overwhelmed.
- [George] India's healthcaresystem on the brink
of collapse as the virustears through dense cities
like Delhi and Mumbai, and scores
of rural towns and villages.
- The healthcare systemhas collapsed around us.
Hospitals have shut their gates,
places are running out of medical oxygen,
there's no ventilators tospare, medicine has run short,
and so many people aredesperate to get help.
(men speaking foreign language)
- [George] Tempers boiling overat this market in New Delhi
as hundreds of people haggleover the price of oxygen.
With hospitals running onempty, black markets in oxygen
have sprung up around the country.
- In every shop, there is no oxygen.
There is no oxygen.
When you go to hospital, thereis no oxygen in hospital.
- [George] With the surge in deaths,
crematoriums like this one inthe capital city struggling
to keep up as the bodies pile up.
- (speaking foreign language)
- [Translator 2] So many people are dying
and are brought here.
Daily, at least 250 to 300bodies are brought here.
We see it.
- [George] And when thecrematoriums run out of space
new makeshift ones pop up.
At this open park inBengaluru, one of India's key
IT capitals, lines of ambulances waiting
to drop off dead COVID victims.
- They're setting up sites next to the
official cremation grounds in empty lots,
and parking lots, and parks.
And they're lighting on firedozens of bodies at once.
- India's President, Narendra Modi,
under fire for his handling of the virus
and the vaccination drive.
India is the world'slargest producer of vaccines
yet, only 2% of thecountry's 1.3 billion people
have been fully vaccinated.
And now as the loss oflife increases by the day,
the United States alongwith 40 other countries
rushing personal protective equipment
and other medical supplies to help fight
the devastating crisis.
George Thomas, CBN News.
- Well, this story shouldunderline for all of us that
the pandemic is not over.
And when you see thiskind of explosion of cases
in a country, the devastationon the health system,
the devastation in termsof people, you know,
just not being able to do anything,
and then for the people that are infected,
not being able to get proper treatment,
not being able to get hospitalized,
not being able to get theoxygen necessary to live,
it is an ongoing tragedy.
But here, for us livingin the United States,
for people living outside of India,
be of concern becausethe rise in these cases
also means the rise in variants.
The virus will have a newopportunity to mutate.
We've already seen mutations,particularly the one
from South Africa, thatthe current vaccinations,
they're not sure if it'seffective against that variant.
So to see this kind of explosion in cases
should be of great concern to everyone.
Let's do whatever we can torush vaccinations to India,
to rush the needed healthcare equipment.
This pandemic has to come under control
throughout the world.
It's not sufficient for it tobe supposedly under control
here, in the UnitedStates, we need to have it
under control around the world
because these variants willtravel around the world.
Well, back to the US, vaccinations are up,
new COVID cases are down.
John Jessup has that story
from our CBN News Bureau in Washington.
John?
- Thanks Gordon.
With around a third of thepopulation now fully vaccinated,
more than half of the states have seen
a significant decline in new cases.
The trend is down from the higher levels
from two weeks ago and soon,
the Food and DrugAdministration is expected
to expand the Pfizer vaccinefor kids ages 12 to 15.
One major sign of the improvingconditions, New York City.
Once the epicenter ofCOVID cases, it's preparing
to reopen completely starting July 1st.
- You've gone out,you've gotten vaccinated,
you've done so much tofight through this crisis.
Now we can see that lightat the end of the tunnel.
- The economy is getting a huge shot
in the arm as well, from theend of the COVID lockdowns
and the reopening of businesses.
The government's currentestimate shows it growing
at a powerful annual rate,nearly six and a half percent.
The economy could have its strongest year
since the Reganadministration back in 1984.
Well, although COVID is on the decline,
it has taken the lives of morethan half a million people,
nearly 200,000 of those in nursing homes.
The Biden administrationhas a plan it hopes will
keep people out ofnursing homes and instead,
allow them to get the care they need
right where they're already living.
But aa CBN's Lorie Johnson explains,
not everyone is onboard.
- One fifth of PresidentBiden's $2 trillion
infrastructure package wouldgo toward providing home care
to the very poor and the disabledwho qualify for Medicaid.
That's a price tag of $400 billion.
While Medicaid alreadycovers both nursing home
and in-home care, there's asticking point in the form
of an average three-yearwaiting list for in-home care.
That means people who can't wait that long
end up in nursing homes.
The Biden plan aims to changethat by increasing the number
of in-home care workersand their salaries.
- Democratic Republicanvoters, their great concern
almost as much as thechildren is taking care
of an elderly loved onewho can't be left alone.
Medicaid contemplated it, but this plan's
gonna help those families andcreate jobs for our caregivers
with better wages and better benefits.
- [Lorie] Brian Weinsteinis with Visiting Angels,
one of America's largesthome care providers.
- By 2030, all baby boomers will be
at retirement age, i.e., 65 or above.
So we'll have more seniorsthan we do children
for the first time inour country's history.
- [Lorie] Eventually, mostseniors will need help
with everyday tasks like bathing, cooking,
and taking medications.
Right now, 53 millionseniors and disabled people
get the help they needat home from relatives.
This adds up to an averageof 24 hours each week of care
plus a cost of $7,000out-of-pocket each year,
to say nothing of the emotional toll.
Aside from family, professionalhome care providers
are paid different wayssuch as with private,
long-term insurance, VAbenefits, personal savings,
and in some cases, Medicaid.
The government funded seniorhealth insurance program
known as Medicare, however,provides very little
for in-home care andthe Biden plan appears
to keep it that way.
- If you use Medicaid,it's a whole 'nother model.
You have to redo all of your paperwork.
You've gotta send in andget your applications
to make sure that you'reeligible for Medicaid.
If it was put into the Medicare program,
I think it would bemuch easier for seniors
to navigate for home care based service
through the Medicareprogram versus Medicaid.
- [Lorie] In additionto shutting out people
who don't qualify for Medicaid,critics argue in-home care
doesn't fit the traditionaldefinition of infrastructure.
- I think it's going to bea real fight in Congress
because what he's calling foris a $400 billion increase
in spending in Medicaidand Medicaid right now,
is spending about $130 billion a year
on long-term care services.
- [Lorie] Details determine everything
and so far, this plan lacks specifics.
- I think it fits with a general pattern
of the Biden administration'shealth policy
which is to piece-by-piece, step-by-step
expand direct government controlover healthcare financing
of the coverage of healthcare services
and long-term care services.
- [Lorie] So while it'sclear America's disabled
and low-income seniors need help at home,
it remains to be seenwhether Congress sees fit
to spend hundreds of billions more
on top of what thegovernment already provides.
Lorie Johnson, CBN News.
- Gordon, Lorie's reporthighlights an important issue
for so many American families.
- Well, this is notjust an important issue
for American families,it's an important issue
for our overall culture.
What are we doing with people as they age?
Let me give you some facts.
The assisted living averageyearly cost to have someone live
in assisted living is $50,000 a year.
When you step that up toa nursing care facility,
that comes in at $100,000 a year.
So wouldn't it be much better to provide
for care in the home?
Now, in a middle of apandemic, does anyone want
to go into assisted living?
Does anyone want to go into nursing care?
I think the answer is quite clearly, no.
Are you going to be moreat-risk in that kind
of housing to contract the COVID-19 virus?
So why shouldn't thegovernment come in and say
well, how can we change not Medicaid,
which is, has an asset test.
if you have so much in assets,
you're not eligible for that.
But why can't they changeMedicare to actually help
American families andhelp our culture so that
instead of populating nursing homes
and assisted living facilities,we're allowing people
to stay in their own homes.
And we're providing eitherthe infrequent nursing care
where a nurse will come to the residence
or you're providing forhealthcare providers
to assist them to be ableto stay in their home
and thus, reduce the overall cost?
As long as Medicare doesn't pay for that
it pays for a very limitedamount of assisted living,
very limited amount of nursing care,
you literally have tostrip out all your assets
in order to provide, geteligible for Medicaid
and so people are tryingto game the system
to figure out which way to go,
it would be much betterto have one set of rules
and one set of rules that helpspeople and helps people stay
in their own homes as long as possible.
In the long run, it'll actuallybe cheaper for all of us.
