On April 3, at the direction of President Trump, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued critical recommendations to state and local governments, as well as nursing homes, to help mitigate the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in nursing homes. The recommendations build on and strengthen recent guidance from CMS and CDC related to effective implementation of longstanding infection control procedures.

Press Release

Guidance

The U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) and Small Business Administration (SBA) released an interim final rule on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). While SBA still needs to confirm some administrative details, loans will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis and producers can get started on the application now.

• For a top-line overview of the PPP program CLICK HERE
• Information for prospective borrowers can be found HERE
• The application for borrowers can be found HERE

Below please find additional details about the PPP program. We will answer outstanding issues once SBA provides further guidance.

1. Program Eligibility
   1. All businesses (including farm and ranch businesses) are eligible for a PPP loan if they (1) have fewer than 500 employees; (2) meet the definition of a “small business concern”; and (3) are subject to SBA’s affiliation rules (unless those rules were specifically waived in the CARES Act).
2. Waiting on SBA to clarify the definition of “small business concern” – do not anticipate any undue restrictions.
3. Waiting on SBA to confirm whether H2A workers are counted as “employees” for the purposes of determining size.

1. 1. Financial institutions, including the Farm Credit system, will be responsible for processing loan applications and administering the loan.
2. Loan Terms
   1. Loan amounts are calculated based on the payroll costs for all employees whose “principal place of residence” is in the U.S. Please note that this definition excludes H-2A workers, which will likely reduce the loan amount available to some agricultural producers.
   2. This loan has a maturity of 2 years and an interest rate of 1%. Loan payments will be deferred for the first six months.
   3. The loan will be fully forgiven if at least 75% of the funds are used for payroll costs, and the remainder is used for interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.

1. Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels.  Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.

1. The best POC for questions on the Paycheck Protection Program is the Lender Relations Specialist in your local SBA Field Office.  The local SBA Field Office may be found at https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/districtoffices.

While teleworking has become a routine way of doing business in many industry sectors and
government, teleworking during wide-scale public emergencies such as what we are experiencing with
the emergence of the COVID-19 virus introduces significant management, technology and bandwidth
challenges to ensuring uninterrupted and efficient workflow and provision of services to the public.
Added strain on the public telecommunications infrastructure over the “last mile” to the home, in
particular, requires critical healthcare entities to assess risk, prioritize tasks and apportion bandwidth
resources to ensure continuity of mission-essential functions that may migrate off premises to the home
office environment. Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2020—The Federal Communications Commission today
announced important changes to the Rural Health Care (RHC) and E-Rate programs that will
make it easier for broadband providers to support telehealth and remote learning efforts during
the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has waived
the gift rules until September 30, 2020 to enable service providers to offer, and RHC and ERate program participants to solicit and accept, improved connections or additional equipment
for telemedicine or remote learning during the coronavirus outbreak.

Read more

Notice of Executive Order from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishing a list of medical resources that are needed to combat the spread of COVID-19 which have been designated as scarce or which are likely to be in short supply and should not be hoarded, effective March 25, 2020. Read more here.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created the Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force to address the limited supply of protective and life-saving equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. It describes how the task force is increasing availability of critical resources through preservation of equipment, acceleration of industrial manufacturing, expansion of the industry, and allocation of resources. Read more here.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai announced his plan for a COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which includes $200 million to support healthcare providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program would help providers purchase telehealth equipment and necessary bandwidth to provide remote care to uninfected patients. Read more here.