On The Hill

 

The Senate concluded its pro forma session Thursday (Apr. 16) without reaching an agreement on an interim emergency spending package. The next chance for a deal will be Monday, April 20, when the Senate convenes pro forma session at 2:00 pm. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated future pro forma session dates are as follows: April 20, 23, 27, and 30.

 

House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) will recommend the House adopt a rule change allowing members to vote by proxy during an emergency. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) seems supportive of such a change, but has given no indication on when a vote on the rule change would take place.

 

Coronavirus resources, including information on the CARES Act, can be found on our website. This page will be updated as more information becomes available.

 

 

 

On Thursday (Apr. 16), the Trump administration rolled out a three-part plan for reopening the country, recommending states and local governments not to begin easing restrictions until a two-week, downward trend in COVID-19 cases is confirmed and hospitals have capacity and testing capabilities.^[1] The guidelines do not include a timeline on how long each phase will last and leave many decisions up to the states.

 

To view the guidelines, click here.

 

 

 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released their preliminary estimate of the budgetary effects of the CARES Act yesterday (Apr. 16). They estimate the act will increase federal deficits by around $1.8 trillion over the next decade, including: $988 billion increase in mandatory outlays; $446 billion decrease in revenues; and $326 billion increase in discretionary outlays, stemming from emergency supplemental appropriations.

 

To view the full CBO report, click here.

 

 

 

 

Rapid Diagnostic Testing: The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is working with Hememics Biologics, Inc. to develop a rapid, Bluetooth-connected diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2. The test is being designed to detect the SARS-CoV-2 antigen through a finger-prick in less than 60 seconds. The antibody testing will allow rapid triage, as well as indicate which patients have been previously infected. Additionally, Bluetooth capability can enable real-time mapping of the outbreak by sending information to cloud-based networks.^[2]

 

Public Testing Information: The White House announced a collaboration with Schema.org that will allow Americans to easily find up-to-date information on testing facilities near them. All federal websites will begin to incorporate Schema.org’s standard tags, which will help find COVID-19 information through online search engines.

 

To view the White House announcement, click here.

 

Contact Tracing App: NIH has funded the launch of a new mobile app, mContain, that aims to reduce community transmission by collecting location traces and sending notifications to users if they have interacted with a COVID-19 positive individual. The app is currently available for download by residents of the greater Memphis, Tennessee area.^[3]

 

 

Ventilators: HHS announced a new contract with General Electric (GE), in partnership with Ford, for ventilator production under the Defense Production Act (DPA). Under the $336 million contract, GE will produce 50,000 ventilators by July 13. In combination with those previously announced, HHS has finalized contracts to produce or acquire more than 41,000 ventilators by the end of May, and over 187,000 ventilators by the end of the year.

 

N95 Respirators: A newly released NIH study confirms decontamination methods for the re-use of N95 respirators, indicating that N95 masks can be safely reused up to three times. A 10-minute vaporized hydrogen peroxide treatment was found to be the most effective decontamination method, while UV and dry heat methods were deemed acceptable if applied for at least 60 minutes. Additionally, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of Stryker Instruments’s Sterizone VP4 Sterilizer1 Respirator Decontamination Cycle to decontaminate compatible equipment.

 

To view the NIH study, click here.

 

To view the FDA’s EUA, click here.

 

 

CMS issued guidance implementing Section 3709 of the CARES Act, temporarily suspending the 2% payment adjustment currently applied to all Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) claims due to sequestration. The suspension is effective for claims with dates of service from May 1 through December 31, 2020.

 

To view the CMS guidance, click here.

 

 

Last week, HHS distributed the first $30 billion of the $100 billion appropriated for healthcare provider relief through the CARES Act, to Medicare providers. The next round of funding will be between $20-30 billion directed to Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Providers. A distribution formula has yet to be released.

 

 

 

This week, the FCC authorized the COVID-10 Telehealth Program. The $200 million program, appropriated through the CARES Act, will distribute funds to healthcare providers to help them purchase telecommunications and broadband equipment necessary to provide telehealth services. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis as soon as application forms are published in the Federal Register.

 

For more information on the program, click here.

 

 

 

On Thursday (Apr. 16), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and 11 other Senate Finance Democrats sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar calling for equitable distribution of the remaining $70 billion dollars CARES Act funding aid for health care providers. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) was the only Democratic committee member not to sign onto the letter.

 

The senators indicated frustration at the way the initial $30 billion was distributed, claiming the 2019 Medicare fee-for-service approach failed to provide aid to many providers in need. They called on HHS to release a detailed and public report outlining the distribution of the initial funding in order to increase transparency.^[4]

 

In the letter, Democrats outlined factors for HHS to consider when distributing the remaining funds, including: 1) providers, such as Medicaid-dependent safety net providers and Medicare Advantage, that were excluded from the first round of funding, 2) the impact of lost revenue due to cancellations of elective procedures, 3) the burden on organizations providing routine care, and 4) the severity of the outbreak in a provider’s area.

 

 

 

^[1]Bettelheim, Adriel “What’s in Trump’s 3-phase reopening plan” Politico Pro, 16 Apr. 2020

 

^[2]Medicalcountermeasures.gov “BARDA supports Hememics Biotechnologies, Inc to develop a rapid antigen and antibody diagnostic to identify current or past SARS-CoV-2 infections in 60 seconds”

 

^[3]National Institutes of Health, “NIH-funded MD2K Center releases app that alerts user if close contact with COVID-19 cases” 13 Apr. 2020

 

^[4]Press Release “Wyden, Finance Democrats Outline Priorities for Health Provider Pandemic Aid Fund” Senate Finance Committee, 16 Apr. 2020