Thursday, April 23 Recap
Note – We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time, but it is subject to change as circumstances warrant. Also, all finalized resources can be found on the COVID-19 Resource Center page of Hall Render’s website.
Congressional Outlook
- Today, the House approved an interim emergency spending measure that includes $75 billion more for hospitals, $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $60 billion for emergency disaster loans to small businesses and $25 billion for virus testing.
- The House and Senate are now scheduled to return to Washington on May 8. In the meantime, congressional leaders and the White House will begin working on a fourth stimulus bill.
HHS Announces More Time for COVID-19 High-Impact Payment Application
- HHS extended the deadline for hospitals to submit data that will inform how $10 billion is distributed to areas of high impact from COVID-19. The deadline is now 3:00 EDT on Saturday, April 25, 2020.
CMS Releases Medicaid/CHIP COVID-19 Telehealth Toolkit
- CMS released a toolkit on policy considerations for states expanding use of telehealth during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
From the FDA
- The FDA issued guidance on non-invasive fetal and maternal monitoring devices to help increase the availability and capability of these devices used to support patient monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The FDA issued guidance on imaging systems needed for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of lung disease in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The FDA announced a virtual town hall for April 29 at 12:15 EDT for clinical laboratories and commercial manufacturers that are developing or have developed diagnostic tests for COVID-19. The purpose is to help answer technical questions about the development and validation of tests.
CDC Distributes Funds to States and Localities for COVID-19 Testing
- HHS, through CDC, announced they are awarding $631 million to 64 jurisdictions of CARES Act funding in order to expand capacity for testing, contact tracing and containment.
HRSA Awards $5 Million to Poison Control Centers
- HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) awarded nearly $5 million to Poison Control Centers across the country to improve capacity to respond to increased calls due to the COVID-19 virus.
National Governors Association Release “Roadmap to Recovery”
- The National Governors Association released a public health guide for governors to provide information on building the post-COVID-19 public health infrastructure and reopening the nation’s economy.
National Hospital Organizations Urge AHA to Change Medicare APP Program
- National hospital organizations sent a letter urging CMS to make improvements to the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Programs. These include lowering the interest rate on such payments (currently 9.625%), increasing the length of the repayment period and allocating the funds from general revenues rather than from the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.
- The organizations include: the American Hospital Association; America’s Essential Hospitals; the Association of American Medical Colleges; Catholic Health Association of the United States; Federation of American Hospital; National Association for Behavioral Healthcare; Premier healthcare alliance; and Vizient Inc.
For more information, please contact:
- John Williams III at (202) 370-9585 or jwilliams@wp.hallrender.com;
- Andrew Coats at (202) 370-9587 or acoats@wp.hallrender.com;
- Abby Kaericher at (202) 780-2989 or akaericher@wp.hallrender.com; or
- Your regular Hall Render attorney.
Hall Render’s attorneys and professionals continue to maintain the most up-to-date information and resources at our COVID-19 Resource page, through our 24/7 COVID‑19 Hotline at (317) 429-3900 or by contacting your regular Hall Render attorney.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot—outside of an attorney-client relationship—answer specific questions that would be legal advice.
