Governor Cuomo Announces New COVID-19 Restrictions in New York
Today (November 11th), Governor Cuomo announced that due to a rise in COVID-19 infections, some restrictions will be reimposed on New York State activities. Starting on Friday, November 13th at 10pm, bars and restaurants with state liquor licenses and gyms must close at 10pm. New York State will also limit indoor gatherings at private residences to 10 people.
Otherwise, the State continues its approach of targeting cluster zones through the three-color (red, orange, yellow) system. The Governor previously announced that, based on improving data, the designated red cluster zone in Brooklyn will transition to an orange warning zone, while new yellow and orange zones have been established in other targeted localities around the state. Details are available in the Governor’s press release here.
Compared to the rest of the nation, New York continues to have a relatively low prevalence of COVID-19, with the sixth-lowest infection rate per capita and third lowest rate of positive COVID-19 positivity test. Of the 164,300 COVID-19 tests conducted yesterday, 4,820 were positive (2.93 percent). There were 1,628 total hospitalizations and 21 deaths related to COVID-19 reported yesterday.
Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order 202.73
On November 9th, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.73 (available here) which modifies the provisions contained in Executive Order 202.40 (availablehere) that requires nursing homes to test or make arrangements for the testing of all personnel for COVID-19 once per week. The Order modifies this provision to require nursing homes located in designated red, orange, or yellow cluster zones to test or make arrangements for the testing of all personnel, including all employees, contract staff, medical staff, operators, and administrators for COVID-19 as directed by the Commissioner of Health. Additional guidance from the Commissioner and Department of Health is expected.
Updated Guidance Documents
Recently released New York State guidance documents are listed below:
- Revised COVID-19 Protocols for Direct Care Staff to Return to Work (11.10.20)
- Revised Staffing Guidance For Management of COVID-19 (11.10.20)
- COVID-19 Provider FAQ (11.8.20)
- Influenza Season During COVID-19: Guidance for Emergency Departments (11.7.20)
FCC Connected Care Pilot Program Filing Window Now Open
On November 6th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened the filing window for organizations to apply to the FCC Connected Care Pilot Program. The Program will make available up to $100 million over a three-year period to fund selected pilot projects to provide connected care services, with a focus on low-income and veteran patients. Eligible entities include non-profit or public hospitals and medical schools, community health centers (i.e., federally qualified health centers), skilled nursing facilities, and others. Unlike some previous FCC initiatives, the Connected Care Pilot is not limited to rural areas or entities that are part of a rural consortium.
Funds may be used to cover patient broadband Internet access services, health care provider broadband data connections, connected care information services, and certain network equipment. Selected pilot projects will be reimbursed for 85% of the project’s qualifying costs. The remainder of eligible expenses must be paid by the recipient.
The filing window will close on December 7th. The public notice from the FCC is available here.
CMS to Allow Medicare to Cover Antibody Treatment for COVID-19
On November 10th, CMS announced that Medicare beneficiaries can receive coverage of monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 without cost-sharing for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Specifically, Medicare will cover bamlanivimab, a treatment that recently received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. CMS anticipates setting the payment rate, consistent with vaccination payment methodologies, at 95% of the average wholesale price. CMS will issue billing and coding instructions for health care providers in the coming days.
The announcement is available here.
FAIR Health Study Reveals Top Comorbidity Factors for COVID-19 among Privately Insured
On November 11th, FAIR Health released a study that explored preexisting comorbidities and mortality in privately insured patients diagnosed with COVID-19. FAIR Health analyzed data from 467,773 patients in the FAIR Health National Private Insurance Claims repository. The study found that, across all age groups, the top comorbidity risk factors were developmental disorders and intellectual disabilities, and cancer, with lung cancer and leukemia the highest risk types of cancer. Other findings included the following:
- Patients with COVID-19 and CKD were nearly twice as likely to die as patients who had COVID-19 but not CKD
- Patients with COVID-19 and heart failure were more than one and a half times as likely to die as patients who had COVID-19 but not heart failure.
- As a patient’s number of comorbidities increased, so did the odds of dying from COVID-19.
- Males accounted for about 60% of total COVID-19 deaths, while females accounted for 40%.
- Patients over age 69 accounted for 4.82% of COVID-19 diagnoses but 42.43% of total deaths from COVID-19.
The FAIR Health study is available here.