Congress remains on a District / State work period at least until May 4. In the meantime, Congress can enact legislation by unanimous consent / voice vote and the Wall Street Journal reports this evening that White House and Congressional negotiators are close to agreement on a law that would expand funding for underfunded small business programs and provide $75 billion in hospital funding and $25 billion in COVID-19 testing funding, among other things.
Speaking of testing, CVS Health, Walgreen’s and Verily Health all have expanded the scope of their drive in COVID-19 testing programs. Verily Health, a subsidiary fo Alphabet / Google, is now operating its testing service outside California:
- CVS Health (which just added drive in testing at the FEHBlog’s place of birth New Haven CT)
- Walgreen’s
- Verily Health
GoodRx helpfully offers a more complete list of drive up COVID testing sites here.
In the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, and Dr. Stephen Ostroff offer suggestions for businesses on how to prepare for reopening following the great hunkering.
NPR Shots discusses the Administration’s efforts to put a stop on surprise billing for patients receiving COVID-19 care.
Last week, as HHS released an initial draft of its terms and conditions for the emergency funds allocated by Congress in the CARES Act, the Trump administration startled many in health care by declaring that providers would have to agree not to send surprise bills to COVID-19 patients for treatment. A White House spokesperson declined to comment. HHS did not immediately comment.
But the blanket assertion by health officials that “every patient” is considered a COVID-19 patient, offered without further clarification, seems to go beyond the administration’s announcement and open the door to lawsuits over whether HHS intended to ban balance billing entirely.
The FEHBlog expects further guidance from HHS.