March 12, 2020

Following the recent enactment of an $8.3 billion coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency supplemental funding package (PL 116-123), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on March 11 announced the availability of funding – through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – to state and local jurisdictions in support of COVID-19 response. According to HHS, CDC has awarded over $560 million in state and local Public Health Crisis Cooperative Agreement (CoAg) funding. California’s share of the total is nearly $38 million. 

Additionally, several of the hardest hit states to date – including California – will receive additional CoAg funding, as well as funding through CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases Program. California’s share of these allocations are $3.5 million and $1 million, respectively.

This week, Congress continued to work on a separate measure to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the House today will vote on a legislative package (HR 6201) that Democrats unveiled on March 11. HR 6201 is primarily a health and economic security measure designed to protect individuals and families who are affected by the coronavirus outbreak, as well as public health workers who are on the front lines of responding to the crisis.

At press time, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) were working to tweak the legislation in an attempt to hammer out a final agreement. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today that the Senate would be canceling its scheduled recess next week in hopes of passing a coronavirus relief package. The House is also scheduled to be on recess next week, but lawmakers may be asked to remain in the nation’s capital as changes to the legislation might be inevitable.

To follow is a summary of the key provisions of HR 6201:

Health Provisions

Medicaid Funding: States would be eligible for an eight percentage point increase in their federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). The bill requires states to provide coverage of coronavirus testing without cost sharing and meet other criteria, such as not imposing more stringent eligibility standards or additional premiums. States would cover tests for uninsured people through their Medicaid/CHIP programs and receive a 100% FMAP to cover the cost. 

Coronavirus Test Coverage: Health insurance companies would be required to cover coronavirus tests and related services without cost-sharing or prior authorization requirements. The cost-sharing prohibition also would apply to Medicare, TRICARE, veterans’ health programs, the Indian Health Service, and coverage provided to federal civilian employees.

Uninsured: The legislation would provide $1 billion to allow the National Disaster Medical System to reimburse costs associated with testing uninsured individuals.

Health Care Workforce Safety Standard: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would be required to issue an emergency temporary standard for health-care facilities to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus. The standard also would cover employees in other high-risk sectors identified by OSHA and the CDC. The bill would require employers to implement comprehensive infectious diseases exposure control plans and, at a minimum, be based on the precautions set for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). 

HR 6201 also would require skilled nursing facilities and other health-care settings not subject to OSHA requirements to implement the standards as a condition of receiving Medicare funds. Facilities that don’t comply with the standards could be subject to civil penalties. 

Mask Liability: The measure would make personal respiratory protective devices a covered countermeasure under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act. The aforementioned law allows HHS to provide liability protections for certain emergency response products.

Nutrition Provisions

SNAP ABAWD Waivers: Under the bill, there would be no three-month limit on SNAP benefits for adults without dependents. The waiver would begin the first full month following bill enactment and terminate at the end of the first full month after a federal coronavirus-related emergency declaration is lifted. State-imposed work requirements wouldn’t be changed, but a person’s participation in SNAP during the emergency couldn’t be counted for determining compliance with work requirements. 

Other SNAP Benefits: States that make their own emergency or disaster declarations related to COVID-19 could request emergency allotments of food aid to support increased participation in SNAP and address temporary food needs. The provision wouldn’t change the maximum monthly allotment for any household size. States would have to provide data sufficient to demonstrate the need for additional assistance.

SNAP Benefits for Children: If a school is closed for at least five consecutive days because of a coronavirus-related public health emergency, states could adjust their SNAP programs to provide additional assistance to households with children eligible for free or reduced price school meals. EBT cards would be used.

Older Americans Act Meals Programs: The bill would provide $250 million more for home delivered and congregate meals for older people, people with disabilities, and Native American food program. The aid would be allocated as follows:

• $160 million for home-delivered nutrition services;
• $80 million for congregate nutrition services that provide food in group settings, such as adult day care centers and meal sites; and,
• $10 million for nutrition services for American Indians.

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): The measure would provide $500 million in emergency funding for the WIC program.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program: The bill would provide $400 million to assist local food banks in meeting increased demand for low-income Americans during the emergency.

Employment Security Provisions

Coronavirus Emergency Leave: HR 6201 would create an emergency paid leave program. By July 1 of next year, the Treasury Department would be required to reimburse states for providing emergency leave and would bar the use of the Social Security Trust Fund for the program and exclude benefits provided from an individual’s gross income.

Eligible individuals would include those: diagnosed with the coronavirus; under quarantine (including self-imposed); providing care to a diagnosed individual; and, caring for an individual affected by a school or daycare closing triggered by the disease.

The measure also would modify the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow individuals to use unpaid leave if they are diagnosed with the virus, caring for a family member, or caring for a child whose day care has closed because of a public health emergency. 

National Sick Leave Program: The bill would establish a national paid leave program requiring public and private sector employers to allow workers to accrue as much as 56 hours, or seven days, of paid sick leave annually. 

Under the bill, workers would have to be paid at least their normal wage or the federal, state, or local minimum wage, whichever is greater. Paid sick time could be carried over from year to year and also would cover an absence related to an employee’s: physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition; medical diagnosis or treatment; caregiving for a child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, or other family member; and, receiving services related to domestic violence, assault, or stalking.

Employers with similar existing sick leave policies wouldn’t be required to allow workers to earn additional paid time off. 

Emergency Sick Leave: Full-time employees would receive 14 days of additional sick leave under the new national program to be used in the event of a national medical emergency. Part-time or hourly workers would be granted time off equivalent to their scheduled or normal work hours in a 14-day period. 

The Treasury Department would have to reimburse employers with fewer than 50 workers for providing additional paid sick leave.

Unemployment Insurance: HR 6201 would provide as much as $1 billion for emergency transfers to states in fiscal 2020 to process and pay unemployment benefits. Under the bill, each state would receive a proportional amount based on the share of federal unemployment taxes paid by its employers. 

Any state could modify its unemployment policies, including rules related to job searches and initial payment waiting periods, on an emergency temporary basis to address the effects of COVID-19.