Business Roundtable, the voice of America’s top CEOs, last week launched “Move the Needle,” a campaign to support President Biden in rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, increasing vaccine uptake and encouraging masks. In the announcement, Business Roundtable president and CEO Josh Bolten said, “Masks and vaccines are working. Now is the time to keep at it, overcome pandemic fatigue, and double down on the measures that will end this public health and economic crisis.” Pushing the hashtag #IGottheShot, the campaign aims to ramp up engagement with employees, suppliers and customers to advance wider and consistent adoption of COVID-19 safety practices and vaccines. The White House also announced alliances with top business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, and leaders in Hispanic, African American and other minority business organizations to help organizations provide accurate and up to date information to their employees and customers.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) is releasing the updated guidance for making decisions about return to work for healthcare personnel (HCP) with confirmed COVID-19, or who have suspected COVID-19 (e.g., developed symptoms of COVID-19 but did not get tested for COVID-19). These updates are consistent with those published by the CDC on Feb. 16, 2021 and available for review here. This HAN replaces PA-HAN-516. These changes include HCP who are severely immunocompromised could remain infectious more than 20 days after symptom onset. Click here to access all the 2021 Health Alerts, Advisories and Updates.

The vast majority of people who sign up for a marketplace plan are eligible for a tax credit to reduce their monthly premium. But the tax credits are based on estimated annual income, which may be especially hard to predict during such financially uncertain times. People whose income fluctuated significantly during the year may be in store for a tax season surprise: having to pay back part of their premium tax credit if they earned more than they expected. Read more.

President Biden this week said the U.S. will have enough COVID-19 vaccines for all American adults by the end of May, two months earlier than he had previously stated and after regulators authorized the one-shot Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine and Merck & Co. agreed to help produce it. Mr. Biden also called on states to give priority to teachers, school staff and child-care workers for vaccinations, as virtual learning continues for many students across the country. Pennsylvania is among the states that have responded to the call to do so (see related article under Harrisburg Update).

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Thanks to the advocacy of NRHA and its members, the package includes a number of provisions to protect and promote rural health.

Most notably, NRHA has secured the infusion of $8.5 billion for rural providers, a key provision which NRHA worked closely with Senator Manchin’s office on. The $8.5 billion for rural providers will be provided through a fund called the Health Care Heroes Sustainability Fund (HCHSF), which will be similar to the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) but specific to rural providers. After months of advocacy, NRHA and its members are proud to have secured this much-needed relief on behalf of rural providers. 

Additional rural health provisions of note include:  

• Additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with language increasing eligibility for rural providers. Previously, rural hospitals affiliated with a larger health system were deemed ineligible for the PPP if their affiliation brought them above the program’s 500-employee threshold, even if the rural hospital itself only had 100 or so employees. The new bill will waive the affiliation provision, which will enable many more rural providers to participate in the program. NRHA has advocated for this change since the PPP was created last March.  
• $500 million for the creation of an ‘Emergency Grants for Rural Health Care’ program through the United States Department of Agriculture. This program will support rural hospitals’ efforts around COVID-19 response and vaccine administration, as well as telehealth services. 
• $7.66 billion in funding for the public health workforce to carry out activities related to establishing, expanding, and sustaining public health at the state, local, and territorial levels. 
• Supplemental appropriation allocation for the National Health Service Corps ($800 million) and the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program ($200 million), bringing $1 billion dollars of additional funding to health care workforce programs. NRHA has advocated for additional funding for the health care workforce in each COVID-19 relief bill, and we are pleased that Congress has decided to provide resources to rural and underserved communities. 
• An additional $55 billion in funding for COVID-19 vaccine deployment, vaccine awareness programs, testing, tracing, and mitigation programs. 
• $1 billion in funding to support vaccine confidence activities throughout the country. 
• Additional funds for mental health support for rural and underserved areas, including $80 million towards Mental Health training, and $40 million in funding to support the Mental Health professional workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted minority and vulnerable populations. The COVID-19 vaccine can reduce the spread of the virus and help end the public health emergency. Community partners working with racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency, sexual and gender minorities, and rural populations are critical in helping consumers understand how and when they can receive the vaccine, vaccine safety and confidence, and the important ongoing precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19.

To assist our partners, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) has developed a COVID-19 Vaccine Resources website of the many Federal resources and organized them for health care professionals, partners, consumers, and for assistance in additional languages.

To view the page, visit: go.cms.gov/omhcovid19vaccine.

We encourage you to visit the website regularly, as we will continue to update the page with new resources. You can also share this page within your networks to prepare others to get the vaccine as soon as it’s available to them.

For additional COVID-19 information, visit our general COVID-19 website for Federal resources focusing on vulnerable populations: go.cms.gov/omhcovid19 and From Coverage to Care COVID-19: go.cms.gov/c2ccovid19 webpage.

On March 10, CMS, in collaboration with the CDC, issued updated guidance for nursing homes to safely expand visitation options during the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency.

This latest guidance comes as more than 3 million doses of vaccines have been administered within nursing homes, thanks in part to the CDC’s Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, following the FDA authorization for emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the updated guidance, facilities should allow responsible indoor visitation at all times and for all residents, regardless of vaccination status of the resident, or visitor, unless certain scenarios arise that would limit visitation for:

• Unvaccinated residents, if the COVID-19 county positivity rate is greater than 10 percent and less than 70 percent of residents in the facility are fully vaccinated,
• Residents with confirmed COVID-19 infection, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met the criteria to discontinue transmission-based precautions, or
• Residents in quarantine, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met criteria for release from quarantine

The updated guidance also emphasizes that “compassionate care” visits should be allowed at all times, regardless of a resident’s vaccination status, the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate, or an outbreak. Compassionate care visits include visits for a resident whose health has sharply declined or is experiencing a significant change in circumstances.

CMS continues to recommend facilities, residents, and families adhere to the core principles of COVID-19 infection control, including maintaining physical distancing and conducting visits outdoors whenever possible. This continues to be the safest way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, particularly if either party has not been fully vaccinated.

“CMS recognizes the psychological, emotional, and physical toll that prolonged isolation and separation from family have taken on nursing home residents and their families,” said Dr. Lee Fleisher, MD, CMS Chief Medical Officer and Director of CMS’ Center for Clinical Standards and Quality. “That is why, now that millions of vaccines have been administered to nursing home residents and staff, and the number of COVID cases in nursing homes has dropped significantly, CMS is updating its visitation guidance to bring more families together safely. This is an important step that we are taking, as we continue to emphasize the importance of maintaining infection prevention practices, given the continued risk of transmission of COVID-19.”

High vaccination rates among nursing home residents, and the diligence of committed nursing home staff to adhere to infection control protocols, which are enforced by CMS, have helped significantly reduce COVID-19 positivity rates and the risk of transmission in nursing homes.

Although outbreaks increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission, as long as there is evidence that the outbreak is contained to a single unit or separate area of the facility, visitation can still occur.

More Information:

• Nursing Home Visitation – COVID-19 webpage
• Fact sheet