State Updates
Continued Steady Progress on COVID-19 in New York State
Today (July 6th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that New York continues to see low numbers of COVID-19 related hospitalizations, deaths, and positive tests. Yesterday, there were 817 total hospitalizations and 9 deaths. Of the 54,328 individuals tested for COVID-19 across the state yesterday, 518 (0.95 percent) were positive. The positive test rate in New York City, which enters Phase 3 of reopening today, remains steady at around 1 percent. Westchester, Rockland, and Hudson Valley are on track to enter Phase 4 tomorrow, while Long Island will do so on Wednesday.
The Governor also announced that, based on the growing consensus that surface-based transmission is rarer than airborne transmission, the State will focus more on air filtration technology. In particular, the State will explore and research the effectiveness and cost of equipping air conditioners with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) or similar filters.
Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order 202.47
On July 2nd, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.47 (available here), which contains a range of provisions related to public health and electronic voting. It continues the provisions of Executive Order 202.37 (available here) that permits special education services and instruction to be provided in person for the summer term, if conducted in accordance with state and federal guidance. The Order also extends through August 2nd the provision that allows a questionnaire administered by a New York State-licensed physician through an asynchronous electronic interface or electronic mail to be sufficient to establish a practitioner-patient relationship for the purposes of ordering a clinical laboratory test.
DFS Extends Relief for Insurance Producer Licensing Requirements
On July 2nd, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) released a supplemental notice (available here) that extends temporary relief provisions for insurance producer licensing requirements outlined in Insurance Circular Letter No. 9 (available here). Circular Letter No. 9 suspended the expiration of licenses for all individual producers, waived any late fees, and suspended the requirement that a monitor be present to complete producer continuing education and pre-licensing course exams. Due to continued challenges in obtaining education credits because of the COVID-19 pandemic, these relief measures are extended through August 7th. All licenses that would have expired but for this extension will automatically expire on August 7th, unless the producer has submitted a license renewal application before this date. Questions may be submitted toinsurance.covid19@dfs.ny.gov.
H+H Test and Trace RFP for Community-Based Organizations
On July 1st, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (H+H) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking community-based organizations (CBOs) to support their COVID-19 Test and Trace (T2) program, which is a citywide effort to make testing for the virus widely available and to conduct contact tracing. H+H, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is seeking approximately 20 CBOs who would dedicate full-time equivalent (FTE) employees to the effort from July through November 2020. CBOs will be awarded based on the number of FTEs they dedicate to the effort approximately as follows:
- $50,000 (1.5 FTE)
- $200,000 (8 FTE)
- $750,000 (25 FTE)
Awards will also factor in the amount of funding requested and the CBOs ability to cover larger geographic areas. Employees dedicated to the effort will be required promote, educate, and deliver information and services to New Yorkers regarding the importance of getting tested and responding to contact tracers, how/when to get tested, and the necessary precautions to take place such as face coverings and social distancing.
The full RFP is available here and the application is available here. Applications are due by July 13th. Questions should be submitted toTestandTraceCorps@nychhc.org.
Updated Guidance Documents
Recently released New York State and City guidance documents are listed below:
- Health Advisory: Revised Protocols for Personnel in Healthcare and Other Direct Care Settings to Return to Work Following COVID-19 Exposure or Infection (7.3.20)
- Revised Interim Guidance: Protocol for COVID-19 Testing Applicable to All Health Care Providers and Local Health Departments (7.2.20)
Federal Update
HHS Expected to Reopen CARES Act Provider Relief Fund General Distribution Portal
Last week, it was reported that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to reopen the application process for the second tranche of the General Distribution from the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund. All organizations that billed Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) during 2019 should have received an automatic ACH payment for the first tranche of the Distribution, proportional to the amount of their Medicare FFS billing. Such organizations were also eligible to apply through June 3rd for the second tranche, which would “top up” their payment to about 2% of overall annual patient care revenue. Since many eligible organizations did not apply due to confusion over eligibility, HHS indicated that the portal will be reopened in the future. Further details are not currently available.