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From ANCOR:

With the Senate’s COVID-19 funding bill stalled all of Monday, the House has had time to release its competing legislation. We’re hearing from Capitol Hill insiders that your advocacy is making a difference in ongoing negotiations between both chambers, so please keep the pressure on your members of Congress!

The Ask: Use this email tool to include intellectual / developmental disability (I/DD) supports in provisions creating emergency funds and small business loans.

The Details: Yesterday, the Senate Republican leadership did not receive enough votes for its proposed COVID-19 stimulus package, forcing negotiations to continue between Senate Democrats and Republicans, and open up to House Democrats as well who have introduced their own package.

We know these are stressful times for everyone and the frequent action alerts are exhausting, but you are being heard and now is the time to keep speaking up loudly and clearly. Please keep up the good work by taking action today!

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Medicare Provider Enrollment Relief related to COVID-19. Also included are toll-free hotlines available to provide enrollment information and answer questions related to COVID-19 enrollment requirements.

For a complete and updated list of CMS actions, guidance, and other information in response to COVID-19, members should visit the Current Emergencies website.

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OCR Issues Guidance on Telehealth Remote Communications Following Its Notification of Enforcement Discretion
March 20, 2020

On March 20, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance on telehealth remote communications following its Notification of Enforcement Discretion during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.

The Notification, issued earlier this week, announced that effective immediately, OCR is exercising its enforcement discretion to not impose penalties for HIPAA violations against health care providers in connection with their good faith provision of telehealth using communication technologies during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.

The new guidance is in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and clarifies how OCR is applying the Notification to support the good faith provision of telehealth. Some of the FAQs include:

  • What covered entities are included and excluded under the Notification?
  • Which parts of the HIPAA Rules are included in the Notification?
  • Does the Notification apply to violations of 42 CFR Part 2, the HHS regulation that protects the confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records?
  • When does the Notification expire?
  • Where can health care providers conduct telehealth?
  • What is a “non-public facing” remote communication product?

“We are empowering medical providers to serve patients wherever they are during this national public health emergency,” said Roger Severino, OCR Director. “We are especially concerned about reaching those most at risk, including older persons and persons with disabilities,” Severino added.

  • The FAQs on telehealth remote communications may be found here.
  • The press release on telehealth remote communications may be found here.
  • The Notification of Enforcement Discretion on telehealth remote communications may be found here.

For more information on HIPAA and COVID-19, see OCR’s February 2020 Bulletin, use this link.

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From ANCOR:

We’re hearing that the Senate could begin voting as early as tonight (on the third-round stimulus package, which we’re working to ensure includes funding for key I/DD programs and prioritizes Medicaid-funded services). We’ve seen a fabulous response to the action alert we sent late yesterday (thank you!), but we need to ensure several influential Senators hear from advocates on this issue. Please use this link to reach your legislator.

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ANCOR is issuing a third call to action this week because we just updated our message to Congress about funding supports for people with intellectual / developmental disabilities (I/DD) during the COVID-19 outbreak. The new message reflects greater urgency, given Congressional negotiations that are occurring right now.

The Ask: Please use this updated email action tool to ask Congress to fund disability supports as it negotiates a third COVID-19 package.

The Details: Senate Republican and Democrats are working on competing packages for a third round of COVID-19 funding legislation. Because the negotiations surrounding combining these packages are creating new openings for the needs of people with I/DD to be heard, we are sending Congressional offices a revised message from the one we sent yesterday. This new message further emphasizes how urgently disability supports need funding to ensure the well-being of the people they support during the outbreak. It also expresses disappointment that these supports have not been included in funding packages to date. It is very important that you speak up during this critical time when legislation is being drafted!

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The following information was provided to RCPA by Jeffrey J. Worley, Esq. | Gibbel Kraybill & Hess LLP.  We appreciate his sharing of this important information.

FMLA and Paid Leave
Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act on March 18, 2020, and the President signed the legislation shortly thereafter. The provisions below become effective within 15 days. We will provide further guidance on the details of below as they are released in the coming days. The Act contains the following provisions that will affect a business’s employees directly:

The Family Medical Leave Act Expansion.
The following modifies the rules under the expansion of FMLA due to the COVID-19 emergency and does not change the other sections of the Act :

  • Employers* with “fewer than 500 employees” in 20 or more calendar weeks in 2020 or 2019 are now subject to the FMLA extension.
  • Eligible employees** are now those that were employed for 30 calendar days or more.
  • Qualifying need for leave now means an employee who is unable to work or telework due to the need to care for a child under the age of 18 years old if such child’s elementary or secondary school, or place of care is closed or a childcare provider is unavailable due to a COVID-19 emergency declared by a Federal, State, or local authority.
  • Leave: 1. The first 10 days of leave under the expansion may be unpaid leave; 2. If an employee has accrued vacation, personal, medical, or sick leave he or she may substitute it for unpaid leave; 3. After an employee has exhausted the first 10 days of leave, an employer must provide paid leave each additional day of leave taken; 4. These payments are set at two-thirds of the employee’s normal pay at the normal scheduling period, but cannot exceed $200/day or $10,000 aggregate.
  • Return: employers with fewer than 25 employees may not be required to put an employee on leave back in his or her position that no longer exists due to the health emergency. Several requirements apply.
  • Tax relief may be available for payment made pursuant to the expansion.

*Regulations may be passed to exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees if compliance would jeopardize the business as a going concern

**Regulations may be passed that exclude health care providers and emergency responders and those employers may elect to exclude employees from the definition without further regulations

Emergency Paid Sick Leave.
The following modifies establishes rules for paid sick leave due to the COVID-19 emergency:

  • Employers* who employ “fewer than 500 employees” are subject to the requirements.
  • Eligible employees** are all employees of an employer, regardless of the amount of time employed.
  • Qualifying need for leave means an employee that is unable to work or telework due to the following: 1. The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID–19; 2. The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID–19; 3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID–19 and seeking a medical diagnosis; 4. The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in (1) or has been advised as described in (2); 5. The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID–19 precautions; 6. The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.
  • Leave: 1. Full-Time employees shall receive 80 hours of paid leave; 2. Part-Time employees shall receive leave equal to the number of hours usually worked in a two-week period; 3. Compensation for (1)-(3) above shall be at the regular rate of pay, but not exceed $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate, and compensation for (4)-(6) above shall be at the rate of two-thirds of normal pay, but not exceed $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate.
  • Employers may not: 1. Require an employee to find a person to cover their hours; 2. Require an employee to use other paid leave; 3. Retaliate against an employee for seeking paid sick leave; 4. To the extent their current policies provide more benefits or leave, substitute their policies with this Act.
  • A posted notice is required under the Act, but the Secretary of Labor will release examples before compliance is required.

* Regulations may be passed to exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees if compliance would jeopardize the business as a going concern

** Except that an employer of an employee who is a health care provider or an emergency responder may elect to exclude such employee from the application of this subsection.

Each situation is different and you should contact our offices or your legal counsel for specific guidance.  Should you have any questions concerning the above, particularly when leave starts and stops, and calculating the amount of leave and pay required by the act, please do not hesitate to contact Jeff at [email protected] or 717.291.1700. More laws, regulations, and guidance will be issued to provide greater detail to employers in how they are to enact the requirements of the new Act.

As we go through this, I would encourage all of you to keep open lines of communications with your employees.  This is something that none of us have been through.  Your employees are concerned about their health, their finances, and their jobs.  Keep a listening ear-but also know that you do not have to provide instantaneous responses.  Things are changing hour by hour.  It is ok to not know how to respond.  But is important that you are listening and communicating.

For additional information as to how GKH is responding this situation, please see the link below-
https://gkh.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-preparations/

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