Coronavirus update for Wednesday, May 27 as of 2:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania Update
State Budget
The General Assembly is working on a five-month stop-gap budget bill to fund the state’s government through November. This proposal, HB 2387, uses the enacted state FY 2020 budget as its foundation and makes a 58 percent cut across the board, funding most budget line-items at 42 percent of their enacted FY 2020 level. The exceptions to this cut are education and the state’s pension obligations, which would be funded in full. The legislature would need to return to Harrisburg in the fall to fund the remainder of the 2021 fiscal year. HB 2387 passed in the House on Tuesday evening and is moving through the Senate, where it is expected to pass on Thursday and head to the governor.
The legislature also continues to discuss the distribution of federal and state funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus far, legislative efforts focus on using federal funds for long-term care. This funding is being outlined in a fiscal code bill that would distribute federal CARES money to various health care providers and programs. The bill’s sponsor, House Speaker Mike Turzai, proposes creating regional collaboratives to support efforts to address COVID-19 in long-term living facilities. SNAP expects a second fiscal code bill to focus on the distribution of state funds.
The Wolf Administration
The Wolf administration has added information to its “Plan for Pennsylvania” for the phased reopening of the state with new information about recovery steps for the state, for businesses, and for the health care industry.
Late this afternoon, Governor Wolf issued a news release elaborating on the reopening process for green phase counties and providing guidance on outdoor dining in yellow counties, dining in green counties, and professional sports in yellow counties. See the news release here.
Department of Health – by the numbers
Both the COVID-19 new case and new death counts were up yesterday, the latter significantly so.- More than 17,500 residents and employees of long-term-care facilities have tested positive for COVID-19.
- As have more than 5200 health care workers.
- 1493 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized because they have COVID-19.
- 334 of them are on ventilators.
- As of today, 45 percent of state hospitals’ acute-care beds, 38 percent of their ICU beds, and 24 percent of their pediatric ICU beds are unoccupied, as are 53 percent of their isolation rooms.
- The state currently has 11 children who have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS–C), a condition associated with COVID-19 in children. Ten more possible cases are under investigation.
- As of today, the state has sent to various health care providers and other entities five million N95 masks, 300,000 hospital gowns, 1.6 million masks, two million sets of gloves, 180,000 face shields, and 300 bottles of hand sanitizers.
Department of Human Services
DHS has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin to advise providers of changes it has made to Medicaid pharmacy services to ensure that beneficiaries maintain access to needed services during the COVID-19 emergency. It applies to all licensed pharmacies and prescribers enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program (fee for service, Physical health HealthChoices, and Community HealthChoices).
DHS has posted a memo to all Medicaid physical health HealthChoices managed care organizations notifying them that prescriptions for Sublocade (buprenorphine extended release) injections to treat opioid dependence no longer require prior authorization if they do not exceed the quantity limit.
Federal Update
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CMS has published a fact sheet for state and local governments on how to seek payments from CMS programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP for outpatient services and acute inpatient care provided at alternative care sites established in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Department of Health and Human Services
ASPR TRACIE, sponsored by HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to provide Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) services, in collaboration with the HHS/FEMA COVID-19 Healthcare Resilience Task Force, is hosting the webinar “Ensuring Healthcare Safety Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic” to share experiences and lessons learned from innovators in the field. Learn more here.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- The CDC has posted interim guidance with suggested goals and strategies for outpatient and ambulatory care settings in response to the COVID-19 emergency.
- The CDC has updated a number of its contact tracing web pages, including one on contact tracing for COVID-19 and another on investigating COVID-19 cases.
Food and Drug Administration
- The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for a specific commercial software product for use in intensive care units for the computation of proprietary patient status indices that assist with the early identification of patients who are likely to be diagnosed with respiratory failure or hemodynamic instability as complications from COVID-19.
Resources to Consult
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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