Recently, legislation that ACEP helped draft last year, the "Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act" (S. 610/H.R. 1667), was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation would support, protect, and provide resources to emergency physicians and other health care workers who are facing physical and mental stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Named for ACEP member Dr. Lorna Breen, who was lost to suicide in April 2020, the bill would take major steps to reduce and prevent suicide and burnout and alleviate other mental health concerns that have only been exacerbated by COVID-19.
Please contact your legislators in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to urge their support and co-sponsorship.
On Thursday, March 11, President Biden signed into law the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (H.R. 1319). This $1.9 trillion legislative package passed through the "budget reconciliation" process provides additional relief to address the continued effects of the pandemic on families, businesses, and governments, with $1,400 stimulus checks to many Americans expected to roll out as soon as this weekend.
Among the health care related provisions included in the package are increased funding for vaccine production and distribution, aid to states and local governments, COVID-19 testing, as well as an ACEP priority based on the "Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act." This provision delivers a total of $140 million in grant and education campaign funding - $80 million for mental and behavioral health training for health care professionals, other health care providers, and first responders, $20 million for an education and awareness campaign encouraging healthy work conditions and use of mental and behavioral health services by health care professionals, and $40 million for health care providers to promote mental and behavioral health.
On March 11, the House of Representatives passed two ACEP-supported bills intended to improve the background check system for firearms purchases. These bills, the "Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021" (H.R. 8) and the "Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021" (H.R. 1446) previously passed during the 116th Congress but were ultimately not considered by the Senate before the end of the session.
H.R. 8 requires a federal background check to be completed for any transfer or sale of a firearm (with exceptions, as noted above), and is consistent with ACEP policy on firearms safety and injury prevention. The legislation does not establish a federal registry of firearms. This bill passed in a 227-203 vote. To read ACEP's letter of support for H.R. 8, click here.
H.R. 1446, introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), would fix the so-called "Charleston Loophole" that allowed the shooter in the 2015 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., to acquire a firearm before the FBI could complete a background check that would have ultimately denied him the ability to purchase the firearm. Specifically, it would extend the "default proceed" period from 3 business days to 10 business days and would allow a potential purchaser to request an expedited review should the background check not be completed within that 10-day period. H.R. 1446 passed in a 219-210 vote.
On March 11, the Senate voted to discharge California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's nomination to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from the Senate Committee on Finance. This motion paves the way for a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor which is expected to occur sometime next week.
Over the past week, there had been some uncertainty about Becerra's pathway to confirmation as several moderate Senators had not indicated whether they supported his nomination. However, on Thursday morning prior to the vote, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) both announced they would support Becerra's confirmation as Secretary, thus securing enough votes for successful confirmation.
Once confirmed, Becerra is expected to quickly take up the Biden Administration's health care priorities, especially on the continued COVID-19 response.
Did you know ACEP has two social media channels that provide important advocacy updates? Be sure to follow both to keep up with all things ACEP!
Follow ACEP on social media for news, education, and advocacy updates for ACEP members. This is where you'll find ACEP Action Alerts and the Capital (30) Minutes! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Follow Emergency Docs for public and advocacy updates, and news for emergency physicians and patients. We post to inform the public and policymakers so be sure to tag us when you reach out to your legislators!Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Stay tuned, ACEP advocates! Each week, we'll feature tips and tools to boost your advocacy on behalf of emergency medicine.
A legislative solution to surprise medical billing (SMB), the "No Surprises Act," was ultimately included in the major omnibus bill that passed through Congress at the end of last year. The bill bans balance billing for out-of-network (OON) services starting in 2022 and establishes a back-stop independent dispute resolution (IDR) process to ensure that clinicians and facilities are paid appropriately for the OON services they deliver. Like any major piece of the legislation, the details need to be hammered out through the regulatory process. To help comb through the legislation and develop a well-rounded advocacy strategy for the regulatory process, we at ACEP teamed up with the Emergency Department Practice Management Association (EDPMA)-a major trade association that represents both large and small emergency medicine (EM) group practices- and have formed a joint task force.
Read the Regs & Eggs blog to find out more about the work of the EM SMB Implementation Task Force as we try to ensure that this critical law is implemented in a way that will protect patients-while at the same time requiring health plans to appropriately reimburse you for the life-saving services that you deliver.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
In summary, the guidance states that if you've been fully vaccinated: • You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask. • You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. • If you've been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms. • However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don't have symptoms.
People are considered fully vaccinated: • Two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, like the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or • Two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, like Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine
If it has been less than two weeks since your shot, or if you still need to get your second dose, you are NOT fully protected. Keep taking all prevention steps until you are fully vaccinated.
On Monday, ACEP and the Emergency Department Practice Management Association (EDPMA) sent a letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding the eligibility criteria for the second draw of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). To be eligible for a second draw, an applicant must be able to demonstrate at least a 25 percent reduction in gross receipts between comparable calendar year quarters in 2019 and 2020. Unfortunately, we have heard that this timing does not align with when most emergency physician practices experienced a drop in revenue during 2020. Most group practices saw their greatest drops in volume in April and May 2020 but did not realize their drops in revenue until June and July-which does not correspond to a calendar year quarter. Given that some groups are being denied loans for this reason, ACEP and EDPMA requested that the SBA provide some flexibility in allowing group practices to report losses in three contiguous months rather than a defined calendar year quarter.
