COVID-19 Special Issue
Legislative Update
Overview of COVID-19 Response Legislation Martha M. Kendrick, Esq., Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
In response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States, Congress has passed three major pieces of legislation to provide support to the health care system and relief to individuals and businesses affected by the crisis. Further legislation is expected in the coming weeks as the virus continues to strain hospitals and the economy. Phase 1 Congress provided $8.3 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations in early March as part of its “Phase 1� package, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (Pub. L. No. 116-123). The funding package provided more than $3 billion for research and development related to potential therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines. The measure also loosened Medicare restrictions on telehealth services during the public health emergency and directed $950 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to distribute to states, localities, territories, and tribes for COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts. Phase 2 Following negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Congress quickly took up and passed a second COVID-19 package, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Pub. Law No. 116-127). The Families First Act, signed into law on March 18, required employers to provide 14 days of emergency paid sick leave to workers affected by COVID-19. The package also expands family medical leave and unemployment benefits and provides additional funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other food assistance programs. The health care provisions of the Families First Act required public and private payers to cover COVID-19 diagnostic testing at no cost to patients, including a provider visit to receive the testing. The package also appropriated $1 billion to reimburse providers for the costs of testing services provided to uninsured individuals. The law permitted states to extend Medicaid eligibility to uninsured populations for the purposes of such testing and increased the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by 6.2 percentage points during the public health emergency. In order to receive the increase, states and territories must not restrict their eligibility standards beyond what they were at the date of enactment. The Families First Act provided for the treatment of personal respiratory protective devices, such as N95 respirators, as covered countermeasures under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act. The PREP Act
COVID-19 Special Issue
AMRPA Magazine / May 2020
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