On The Hill

HHS Expands PRF Eligibility and Reporting Requirements

On Thursday (Oct. 22), HHS announced it is expanding the most recent Provider Relief Fund (PRF) application period to include a broad range of providers who may have or have not received PFR dollars.

To view the complete list of providers, click here.

Providers have until Nov. 6, 2020 to submit their applications. Once validated, these providers will receive a baseline payment of approximately 2 percent of annual revenue from patient care plus an add-on payment that considers changes in operating revenues and expenses from patient care, including expenses incurred related to coronavirus.

To view the PRF provider portal, click here.

Additionally, HHS amended PRF reporting requirements to ensure transparency and increase funding flexibility.

To view the amended requirements, click here.

 

FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Meets on COVID-19 Vaccine Standards

The FDA’s Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Biologics held a meeting Thursday (Oct. 22) on COVID-19 vaccine development, manufacturing, and distribution. Throughout the day, officials from FDA, CDC, NIH, and BARDA discussed their respective agencies’ role in oversight of development and standards of safety and efficacy. Officials also outlined standards for issuance of an EUA or licensure for COVID-19 vaccines, organizational aspects of vaccines distribution, and plans for monitoring safety and effectiveness post EUA/licensure issuance.

To view an executive summary of the meeting, click here.

 

ASPR Unveils PPE Preservation Planning Toolkit

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) released a “tool kit” for businesses to plan and implement strategies to preserve, reuse, and repurpose Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The toolkit includes a spreadsheet in which businesses can enter facility information, current PPE preservation methods, and access to additional PPE supplies, and will provide estimates on how long PPE-use can be extended when employing numerous preservation techniques.

The toolkit also includes step-by-step instructions on using the spreadsheet.

To view the toolkit, click here.

 

CMS Updates Medicare Payment to Expedite COVID-19 Testing

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new guidelines on Medicare payments to laboratories conducting COVID-19 diagnostic testing.

In April, CMS increased medicare payments to laboratories conducting diagnostic tests from $51 to $100 per test. Under the new guidelines, Medicare will limit $100 payments to laboratories that complete high throughput COVID-19 diagnostic tests (results within two calendar days of the specimen being collected) and will provide $75 payments for tests that are longer than two days.

The new action is intended to incentivize faster turnaround for COVID-19 test results by providing higher payments to labs which process the tests more expediently.

To view the CMS announcement, click here.

 

Admin Announces Vaccine Partnership with CVS, Walgreens

On Friday (Oct. 16), HHS and Department of Defense (DoD) reached an agreement with Walgreens and CVS to deliver a potential COVID-19 vaccine to residents and nurses at long term care facilities (LTCF) with no out-of-pocket costs. LTCFs are expected to be among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Monday (Oct. 19), LTCFs began to notify Operation Warp Speed (OWS) which of the two pharmacy partners they would like to have on site during distribution.

The program is not federally mandated, but LTCFs are encouraged to participate. Nursing homes can sign up through the National Healthcare Safety Network, and assisted living facilities will be able to opt-in via an online survey.

“Our unprecedented public-private partnership with CVS and Walgreens will provide convenient and free vaccination to residents of nursing homes across America, another historic achievement in our efforts to get a safe and effective vaccine to Americans as fast as possible,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said.

To view the HHS announcement, click here.

 

Dems Criticize Drug-Card Plan

On Tuesday (Oct. 20), Congressional Democrats wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and called for an investigation into the Trump administration’s proposed drug-card plan following a Politico report that HHS lawyers are concerned the program could violate election laws.^[1] The $7.9 billion proposal would give seniors a $200 discount card to assist with pharmacy copays.

To view the letter, click here.

 

References

^[1] Diamond, Dan, “Lawmakers press HHS for documents on Trump’s drug-card plan,” Politico Pro, 20 Oct. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/92ac81dc/KlyP5HQqpEyE6N7TlqmGdA?u=https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2020/10/democrats-press-hhs-to-produce-trump-drug-card-documents-3984731