On The Hill

 

On Monday (Jul. 27), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Republicans released their $1 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

 

The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act provides: $25 billion for testing, contact tracing, and surveillance in states; $20 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for vaccine and treatment manufacturing; $6 billion to CDC to executive a COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan; $15.5 billion for NIH lab reopening, COVID-19 research, and vaccine and therapeutic development; $25 billion to the Provider Relief Fund created in the CARES Act; $4.5 billion for mental and behavioral health, substance use treatment, and suicide prevention; $225 million to rural health clinics; and $7.6 billion for Community Health Centers.

 

Additionally, the HEALS Act includes provisions to sustain U.S. medical surge capacity by establishing state stockpiles of medical supplies and equipment and requiring HHS to issue guidance to state and tribal governments on accessing the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).

 

Under the HEALS Act, HHS would also be required to ensure PPE in the SNS is manufactured in the U.S. The package also creates a 30% qualified investment tax for PPE manufacturers, and contains a number of provisions intended to increase interagency cooperation between CDC, HHS, NIH, and FDA.

 

The package includes a handful of CMS-related items, including provisions to: extend CMS-issued Medicare telehealth waivers through the end of 2021; delay repayment of loans to CMS until January 2021; allow 2020 plan year contributions to flexible spending accounts and dependent care flexible spending accounts to be rolled over to the 2021 plan year; authorize federal “strike teams” for Medicare- and Medicaid-nursing facilities to combat COVID-19; maintain Medicare Part B standard premium rate of $141; and requires HHS to provide state governors with a list of all Medicare- and Medicaid-enrolled nursing facilities reporting increased COVID-19 cases during the previous week.

 

The HEALS Act also reduces federal unemployment benefits to $200 per week, includes a second round of stimulus payments, expands certain tax credits, authorizes a second round of targeted Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, provides $105 billion for reopening schools, and includes liability protections for businesses, healthcare providers, and schools.

 

Democrats have criticized the HEALS Act for insufficiently addressing the needs of working Americans. In her Friday (Jul. 31) press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called out Senate Republicans for delaying negotiations on an additional relief package and scoffed at the idea of a one-week deal, stating that negotiators are too far apart to consider that approach.

Certain Republicans also take issue with the HEALS Act due to its price tag and/or extension of unemployment insurance; McConnell does not appear to have the 51 votes necessary to pass the package.

 

To view a summary of the package, click here.

 

 

 

On Wednesday (Jul. 29), the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released the Secretary’s report on surprise medical billing. The 25-page report outlines the administration efforts to protect patients from receiving unexpectedly high medical bills following the issuance of Executive Order 13877, Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First, on June 24, 2019.

 

Additionally, the report highlights state efforts to address surprise billing. The report indicates 29 states have taken some form of legislative action on the issue, though approaches vary. ASPE recommends federal legislation to ensure patient protection is consistent and comprehensive.

 

Finally, the report outlines recent congressional approaches to this issue. Specifically, the report explores the “Alexander-Pallone-Walden Compromise” of December 2019, the Scott-Foxx “Ban Surprise Billing Act,” and the Neal-Brady “Consumer Protections against Surprise Bills Act of 2020.” All of these bills address the administration’s four surprise billing priorities, however, they differ in their approach to settling disputes between plans and providers and the set level of payment following a surprise bill.

 

To view the ASPE surprise billing report, click here.

 

 

 

 

This week, the Senate Finance Committee held a two-part hearing on the reliability of the U.S. medical supply chains. Witnesses during Part I included representatives from CBP, ICE, and DHS. Witnesses during Part II included private sector healthcare leaders and medical supply logistics executives.

 

To view an executive summary of Part I, click here.

 

To view an executive summary of Part II, click here.

 

 

On Wednesday (Jul. 29), the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health heard testimony on the following legislation reauthorizing certain public health programs: H.R. 2075, the “School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Act of 2019,” H.R. 4078, the “EARLY Act Reauthorization of 2019,” H.R. 4439, the “Creating Hope Reauthorization Act,” H.R. 4764, the “Timely ReAuthorization of Necessary Stem-cell Programs Lends Access to Needed Therapies Act of 2019” or the “TRANSPLANT Act of 2019,” and H.R. 5373, the “United States Anti-Doping Agency Reauthorization Act of 2019.”

 

To view an executive summary of the hearing, click here.

 

 

On Friday (Jul. 31), the House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis held a hearing on a national coronavirus plan.

 

To view an executive summary of the hearing, click here.