Senate Fails to Pass GOP COVID-19 Relief Bill
Today (September 10th), the Senate failed to gain the 60 votes required for the Republicans’ proposed version of a new COVID-19 relief package, the “Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act” (S. 178). The Senate vote of 52-47 was largely along party lines, with the exception of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who voted against the bill. The bill was estimated to have a fiscal impact of roughly $500 billion, significantly smaller than either previous proposal for a 5th package (the House Democrats’ $3.4 trillion HEROES Act and the Senate Republicans’ earlier $1.1 trillion HEALS Act). Its major provisions, some of which might be included in a future compromise bill, included:
- Authorized grants of up to $2 billion for the establishment of state stockpiles of medical products and supplies, while requiring states to provide a percentage of every federal dollar appropriated between 2023 and 2027;
- Provided $31 billion for the Public Health Emergency Fund’s COVID-19 response, including vaccine, therapeutic and diagnostic development, vaccine distribution, up to $2 billion for replenishing the Strategic National Stockpile, and the above-mentioned grants for state stockpiles;
- Provided $16 billion for testing, contact tracing and surveillance in states, subject to additional reporting requirements (state governors would be required to submit a report detailing the use of these funds to the Department of Health and Human Services within six months of receiving funding);
- Provided wide-ranging limitation of liability for personal injury and malpractice claims relating to COVID-19 for hospitals, healthcare workers, small and large businesses, schools, colleges and universities, religious, philanthropic and other nonprofit institutions, and local government agencies;
- Provided $300 per week in federally funded unemployment benefits through December 27;
- Created a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that would allow small businesses with 300 or fewer employees that can demonstrate a 35% gross revenue loss in a 2020 quarter to receive PPP loans equal to 2.5 times average monthly payroll costs; and,
- Extended the deadline for states to spend existing Coronavirus Relief Funds through September 30, 2021.
The bill text is available here.
HHS to Allow Pharmacists and Pharmacy Interns to Provide COVID-19 Vaccinations
On September 9th, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to authorize pharmacists and pharmacy interns (when acting under a pharmacist’s supervision) to order and administer COVID-19 vaccinations to persons ages 3 or older, when such vaccines are made available. The guidance will supersede any State or local law that prohibits such individuals from ordering or administering vaccines. It specifies a number of requirements, including:
- The pharmacist/pharmacy intern must be licensed or registered in their State;
- The vaccination must be ordered and administered according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ COVID-19 vaccine recommendation; and
- Pharmacists/pharmacy intern must comply with any requirements that will be set forth by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in a COVID-19 vaccination provider agreement.
The guidance is available here.
Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order 202.61
On September 9th, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.61 (available here), which enacts requirements to support public reporting of schools’ COVID-19 testing data as well as provisions to support statewide protocols for the timely testing and reporting of all COVID-19 and flu cases. The Order will expand the scope of 10 NYCRR 58-1.14 requirements (which were established in March) to include laboratories operated by physicians or other licensed professionals, and establish new requirements, including:
- Clinical laboratories and licensed professionals must immediately report (i.e., within 3 hours) the results of COVID-19 and flu tests to the Department of Health (DOH).
- Every licensed professional administering a COVID-19 test must inquire if and where the individual attends school or their place of employment, and report to DOH if they attend, work, or volunteer in a school.
- Every licensed professional administering a COVID-19 test must ask for the individual’s local address, and report to DOH if the local address differs from the individual’s permanent address.
- Before processing a COVID-19 specimen, clinical laboratories must ensure that information related to school of attendance or place of employment/volunteer work for adults was submitted with the sample and report this information to DOH.
- Every local health department, school/school district, and higher education institution must report to DOH daily all COVID-19 testing and diagnoses among students, teachers, and any other employees or volunteers. Higher education institutions must also notify DOH if they reach 100 positive COVID-19 cases.
The Order also stipulates that all previous directives that authorized individuals to administer or process any COVID-19 test (such as Executive Orders 202 and 202.16) will apply to any Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved method that tests for COVID-19 in conjunction with any other communicable disease.
DFS Extends Emergency Regulations Requiring Insurers to Waive Cost Sharing
On September 9th, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) extended emergency regulations which were initially published March 16th that require DFS-regulated insurance plans to waive cost-sharing for:
- COVID-19 testing/visits, including in-network laboratory tests for COVID-19 and visits to diagnose COVID-19 through telehealth, the emergency department, or at an in-network provider or urgent care center (regulation available here); and
- Telehealth for any in-network service that would have been covered in-person (regulation available here).
These regulations will now expire on November 9th unless further extended. The DFS press release is available here.
DOH Bi-Weekly Provider COVID-19 Webinar
Today (September 10th), DOH held its bi-weekly provider webinar (here). The webinar provided global, national, and New York State epidemiological updates, reviewed testing reporting requirements, and discussed protocols for schools. The webinar also provided an update on COVID-19 vaccine candidates and encouraged providers to get set up in the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) or the Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR) for providers in New York City. Providers located outside of New York City who are interested in administering a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available or who are interested in receiving supplemental publicly-funded seasonal flu vaccines for adults can complete a survey here. Questions can be sent to NYSIIS@health.ny.gov.
DOH’s provider webinars are held every other Thursday at 1pm and can be viewed here. The next webinar will be held on September 24th.