Thursday, June 4 Update
Our Federal Advocacy Team is dedicated to providing frequent COVID-19 updates as they develop. Going forward, these updates will be distributed as developments warrant instead of nightly. These updates along with other resources can be found on the COVID-19 Resource Center page of Hall Render’s website.
Note – we believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time.
Congressional Outlook
- Last night, the Senate passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act by voice vote. The measure includes provisions that would:
- Extend the amount of time business have to spend the money from 8 weeks to 24;
- Change the percentage of funds that must be spent on payroll from 75% to 60%;
- Extend the period for making loans from June 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020; and
- Increase the amount of time businesses have to repay the unforgiven portion of the loan to five years from two.
- The President is expected to sign the bill into law tonight.
HHS Issues New COVID-19 Laboratory Data Reporting Guidance
- HHS announced new laboratory data reporting guidance for COVID-19 testing.
CMS Issues Optional Medicaid COVID-19 Testing Coverage Guidance
- CMS released new guidance, “Operationalizing Implementation of the Optional COVID-19 Testing (XXIII) Group Potential State Flexibilities.”
Congressional Leaders Ask HHS for Information on Additional Relief Fund Distributions
- Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce and Senate Finance committees wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar to clarify by June 10 the agency’s plan and timeline for disbursing COVID-19 emergency relief funds to Medicaid-dependent providers.
CMMI Releases Summary of Adjustments to Alternative Payment Models
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (“CMMI”) issued a summary of several COVID-19-related modifications to current and future CMMI alternative payment models.
From the FDA
- The FDA updated the question-and-answer appendix in its guidance, Conduct of Clinical Trials of Medical Products during COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.
- The FDA announced a webinar series on the topic of Respirators for Health Care Personnel Use during COVID-19 Pandemic on Tuesday, June 9, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET.
- The FDA issued a new video resource explaining the different categories of COVID-19 testing: diagnostic and antibody.
- The FDA issued a letter to clinical laboratory staff and health care providers about a safety risk with using transport media and COVID-19 testing platforms that are not compatible.
NIH Director Writes Blog on Warm Weather and COVID-19
- Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), wrote a blog, “Will Warm Weather Slow Spread of Novel Coronavirus?”
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.
