Policy Corner: July 31, 2020

Congress Says Goodbye to Civil Rights Leader

Congress and the country said goodbye to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who died July 17, 2020 from pancreatic cancer, earlier this week. Rep. Lewis had represented his district in Georgia since 1987. He was one of six leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington and was the youngest speaker calling for civil and economic rights for African Americans. He was leader in the civil rights movement and is well known for leading a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on the way to Montgomery, known as Bloody Sunday. It took until 1965 for Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act to prohibit racial discrimination in voting. Rep. Lewis is the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in recognition of his legacy in ending segregation and promoting equality in this country.

Senate Introduces COVID-19 Relief Bill

The U.S. Senate announced its COVID-19 relief bill, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act, to provide $1 trillion in coronavirus relief funding. The bill provides rebates for taxpayers; unemployment compensation, although reduced from what was provided through the CARES Act; more money for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); liability protections with regard to businesses; and more than $100 billion for reopening schools and colleges. However, there are considerable differences between the Senate bill and the House version, known as the HEROES Act, which passed in May. Some of the differences include provisions in the House bill to assist individuals with disabilities and older adults, which do not appear to be considered in the Senate bill announced this week. The Senate, House, and Administration are currently hammering out the scope of what needs to be in the next stimulus bill.

House and Senate Bi-partisan Leaders Call for Legislation Ending Surprise Medical Billing

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-Ore.), House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) released a statement yesterday on the White House’s call for Congress to pass legislation ending the practice of surprise medical billing. The statement noted that patients have demanded protection from surprise medical bills, and even more so during this pandemic. They called for Congress to solve the problem.

 CCD Health Task Force Develops Telehealth Principles

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), of which BIAA is a member, developed a statement on telehealth principles in recognition that many health care services have transitioned to using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacts services for people with disabilities. The statement includes these recommendations:

• Ensure disability and language access
• Ensure multiple access modalities; all payers must cover multiple access modalities, including audio-only and other non-broadband based modalities.
• Ensure privacy protections
• Continue to cover in-person services and ensure network adequacy
• Allow providers to deliver and patients to receive services at any site
• Ensure equitable reimbursement
• Cover electronic prescribing and ordering
• Ensure telehealth promotes equity
• Ensure patients can make informed decisions
• Data must be collected on usage and outcomes

BIAA gratefully acknowledges the Centre for Neuro Skills and Avanir Pharmaceuticals for their support for legislative action. Click here to read past issues of Policy Corner.