The House and Senate agreed to a budget plan on February 5 that is needed to enact a proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 response and relief package. The CAP is tracking the legislation and engaging with Congress on pathologists’ priorities for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, President Biden announced the policy framework for his American Rescue Plan. Democrats are moving to enact the bill through a budget reconciliation process. The House and Senate have taken the first steps to use the budget reconciliation by agreeing to the budget plan and instructing key committees to draft legislative text. In recent past, Congress has used this process to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act and pass tax reform legislation.
Key provisions concerning health care in the plan include:
- $50 billion to expand testing across the United States. This includes assisting schools, prisons, and health care facilities with testing programs and expanding laboratory capacity. $46.5 billion would be allocated to procure and administer regular screening tests and $3.5 billion would go toward investments in laboratory capacity for tests.
- $35 billion, with 20% set aside for rural hospitals, to replenish the Provider Relief Fund.
- $30 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund used for boosting personal protective equipment, laboratory supplies, and reimbursement to state and local governments for emergency response.
- $20 billion for a federal government vaccination campaign.
- Additional investment in virus surveillance, sequencing, and analytics.
The CAP will provide additional updates on this pandemic relief plan in future editions of Advocacy Update.