Policy Corner: May 12, 2023
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
Rep. Pascrell Calls Attention to National Sport Brain Health Day
On May 9, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) introduced H. RES. 379, designating May 6, 2023, as “National Sport Brain Health Day.” The resolution calls attention to sports-related brain injury and encourages federal, state, and local policymakers to work together to raise awareness about the effects of traumatic brain injury; to improve the understanding of proper diagnosis and management of brain injury in athletes; and encourages further research and prevention efforts to ensure that fewer athletes experience the most adverse effects of traumatic brain injury.
Lawmaker Introduces Legislation for National Concussion Clearinghouse
On May 5, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) introduced H.R. 3083 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to maintain a National Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury Clearinghouse. Text is not yet available for the bill. However, Rep. Connolly introduced a similar bill last year to create a clearinghouse in order to provide vetted, high-quality information on best practices for medical professionals that treat concussion and traumatic brain injury, as well as for patients and other stakeholders.
President Ended COVID-19 Public Health Emergency This Week
President Biden issued a press release this week to help Americans prepare for the ending of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) that ended yesterday, May 11. Americans will continue to be able to access COVID-19 vaccines at no cost, just as they have during the COVID-19 PHE, due to the requirements of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Agreement. People will also continue to be able to access COVID-19 treatments just as they have during the COVID-19 PHE. Once the federal government is no longer purchasing or distributing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, payment, coverage, and access may change. In order to prepare for that transition, partners across the U.S. Government (USG) are planning for and have been developing plans to ensure a smooth transition for the provision of COVID-19 vaccines and certain treatments as part of the traditional health care market, which will occur in the coming months.
State Medicaid programs must provide coverage without cost sharing for COVID-19 testing until the last day of the first calendar quarter that begins one year after the last day of the COVID-19 PHE. That means with the COVID-19 PHE ending on May 11, 2023, this mandatory coverage will end on September 30, 2024, after which coverage may vary by state. At the start of the pandemic, States were to keep people continuously enrolled in the Medicaid program through the end of the COVID-19 PHE, in exchange for enhanced federal funding. As part of the appropriations bill passed last December, Congress delinked the continuous enrollment provision from the PHE, ending continuous enrollment for Medicaid on March 31, 2023. States are in the process of restarting full Medicaid and CHIP eligibility renewals and terminations of coverage for individuals who are no longer eligible. Beginning States will have up to 12 months to return to normal eligibility and enrollment operations.
Most of the current Medicare telehealth flexibilities will remain in place through December 2024. Additionally, states already have significant flexibility with respect to covering and paying for Medicaid services delivered via telehealth. This flexibility was available prior to the COVID-19 PHE and will continue to be available after the COVID-19 PHE ends.