The global Coronavirus pandemic is sweeping across the planet without acknowledging whatsoever the wealth, ethnicity, gender or political affiliation of its victims. Despite the fact it appears to have originated in China, it has taken root with a vengeance across Asia, Europe, Iran and all 50 of our United States. As of May 26, 2020, the number of reported cases nationwide has risen to over 1,660,000, and the number of confirmed deaths in the U.S. exceeds 98,000. Globally the number of reported cases exceeds 5,500,000, and the number of confirmed deaths exceeds 346,000. 188 countries and regions have been impacted by the pandemic to date (source: Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center).
These numbers are changing rapidly. You should check with your state and local public health authorities for the most up-to-date information on the number of confirmed cases and the risks the virus poses to public health in your community.
The New York City metropolitan area has reported over hundreds of thousands of cases. The State of California has reported nearly 100,000 cases. The Governor of California recently ordered all residents of the largest state in the union to shelter-in-place. That’s 40,000,000 people ordered to stay home. There is evidence on six continents of sustained transmission of the virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised against all non-essential travel throughout most of Europe, South Korea, China and Iran. The agency has warned older and at-risk Americans to avoid travel to any foreign country.
On March 6, 2020, Congress enacted, and the President signed into law, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020, which provides $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies to respond to the Coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. It is the first of several emergency measures anticipated from Washington, D.C.
The legislation enacts two statutes, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020, and the Telehealth Services During Certain Emergency Periods Act of 2020. For purposes of both statutes, the legislation states that the term coronavirus means SARS-CoV-2 or another coronavirus with pandemic potential.
It’s important to note that these statutes are emergency legislation meant to stem the initial tidal wave of the Coronavirus pandemic that is adversely impacting public health and the economy across the U.S. Everyone is impacted, and we’re all in this together. As Congress enacts additional legislation to address the longer term public health and economic challenges posed by the virus, we’ll report on it here so stay tuned.
Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act
The former statute provides supplemental appropriations for the remainder of fiscal year 2020, and through fiscal years 2024, to the Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, and Small Business Administration to respond to the fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak. The Act funds programs that address
1. developing, manufacturing, and procuring vaccines and other medical supplies;
2. issuing grants for state,local and tribal public health agencies and organizations;
3. issuing loans to affected small businesses through the SBA’s Disaster Loans Program;
4. evacuations and emergency preparedness activities at U.S. embassies and other State Department facilities around the world; and
5. humanitarian assistance and support for health systems in the affected countries. The supplemental appropriations are designated as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits established in federal law.
Food and Drug Administration
The legislation provides $61,000,000, to the FDA to hire additional staff to work on preventing, preparing for, and responding to the Coronavirus, domestically or internationally. The work covered includes developing necessary medical counter measures and vaccines, developing advanced manufacturing for medical products, monitoring medical product supply chains, and related administrative activities in which the FDA has authority to engage.
Small Business Administration
The legislation adds $20,000,000 to the SBA’s Disaster Loans Program Account for distressed businesses adversely impacted by the Coronavirus. Under this program, SBA offers designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus. Any Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance declaration issued by the SBA makes loans available to small businesses and private, non-profit organizations in designated areas of a state or territory to help alleviate economic injury caused by the Coronavirus.
California has been designated a disaster area for Coronavirus. The SBA’s program offers up to $2,000,000 in assistance and can provide vital economic support to help small businesses overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses, and 2.75% for non-profits. SBA offers loans with long term repayments to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years. Terms are determined on a case-by-case basis, based on each borrower’s ability to repay. If you need assistance navigating the SBA’s Disaster Loan Program contact us at info@finkellawgroup.com.
Department of Health and Human Services
The legislation provides $2,200,000,000 to the Centers for Disease Control of which $950,000,000 must be used for grants or cooperative agreements with States, localities, territories and tribes to conduct surveillance, epidemiology, increased laboratory capacity, enhanced infection control, mitigation measures, communications strategies, and other preparedness and response activities to address the spread of the Coronavirus.
The legislation provides $836,000,000 to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (within NIH) for the prevention, preparation and response to the coronavirus domestically and internationally, including $10,000,000 to train health care workers and emergency responders to prevent and reduce exposure who are at risk of exposure to Coronavirus through their work responsibilities.
The legislation provides an additional $3,100,000,000 to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus, domestically or internationally. The funds may be used to (1) develop necessary counter measures and vaccines, (2) prioritize platform-based technologies with U.S. based manufacturing capabilities, (3) purchase vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, medical supplies, and medical surge capacity, and (4) pay for related administrative activities.
The Act requires the Secretary of HHS to provide Congress with a detailed spending plan the Department anticipates following to allocate the newly appropriated funds, including estimated personnel and administrative costs. The Secretary must submit an updated plan to Congress every 60 days through September 30, 2024, when this appropriation runs out.
Department of State
The Act provides supplemental appropriations to the State Department for administering its diplomatic and foreign affairs programs around the world, and to the U.S. Agency for International Development for global health programs, international disaster assistance programs, and economic support programs administered by U.S. AID.
Specifically, the legislation provides $264,000,000 for necessary expenses incurred at embassies, consulates and other State Department facilities around the world to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus, and are to be used for maintaining consular operations, reimbursement of evacuation expenses, and emergency preparedness.
The legislation provides $435,000,000 for global health programs administered by U.S. AID to pay for necessary expenses to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus. The statute provides for an additional $300,000,000 for international disaster relief assistance that may be used by U.S. AID or its international organization partners to pay for necessary expenses to prevent, prepare for and respond to the Coronavirus. The Act also provides an additional $250,000,000 for U.S AID’s economic support fund to pay for necessary expenses incurred to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus, and is targeted to include efforts to ensure economic stability and maintain security around the world caused by the Coronavirus.
The legislation requires the State Department and U.S. AID to provide Congress with a strategy to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus abroad within 15 days of enactment of the Act. And within 30 days of enactment, State and U.S. AID must provide Congress with a report on the proposed uses of the funds on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis. They must provide Congress with an updated report every 60 days through September 2022, and every 180 days thereafter until all funds have been expended.
Telehealth Services During Certain Emergency Periods Act
The second Act, allows HHS to temporarily waive certain Medicare restrictions and requirements regarding telehealth services during the Coronavirus public health emergency, and exempts the budgetary effects of the Act from certain restrictions and limitations established by other Federal statutes