The U.S. Senate quickly released an $8.3 billion emergency fund to address the situation of the coronavirus in the country, where Covid-19 has already reached 19 states, with 233 confirmed cases and 12 deaths.
The measure is the result of a bipartisan, bicameral agreement between Democrats and Republicans, following the “extremely slow and inadequate response” of the Donald Trump government to the coronavirus, says an official press release.
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-LINK) was in charge of releasing the funds, through the “H.R. 6074 Coronavirus Supplemental Appropriations Preparedness and Response Act.
According to a press release from Leahy’s office, he was the lead negotiator in the passing of the bill and the consequent approval of the funds. The senator said the outcome of the bipartisan, bicameral agreement is “vastly different from the $1.25 billion, poorly thought out proposal from the Trump Administration. Where President Trump’s proposal would rob Peter to pay Paul, stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from funds meant to contain an Ebola outbreak and programs the American people rely on (…), our agreement provides $7.8 billion in new, emergency funding to address this public health threat without raiding these important programs.”
The bill document released by this office says the funds consist of $7.8 billion plus a $500 million authorization to improve and increase telehealth services for Medicare providers. That adds up to $8.3 billion.
According to a report by Rebecca Shabad for NBC News, the Senate passed this bill with 96 votes in favor and one against, just one day after Congress passed it “quickly and overwhelmingly” with 415 votes in favor and two against. It is now Donald Trump’s turn to endorse it.
Of the total of the money released by this bipartisan, bicameral agreement and the passing of this bill, nearly $2 billion will go to support federal, state, local and tribal governments in “the coronavirus public health crisis.” One billion will be used for prevention, preparedness and response to the virus: in surveillance and monitoring; laboratory testing for new cases and tracking to identify positive cases; infection control at the local level; mitigation activities. 300 million will go to the Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund, with an equal amount going to global disease detection and emergency response. Another part of these funds will reimburse money that governments at all levels spent on combating the virus before the law was passed, and another part of the funds will support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their efforts to repatriate sick patients and for quarantine, purchase and distribute virus test kits, and provide laboratory testing, communication and information to the public and health institutions.
On the other hand, approximately $3 billion will be used for vaccine research and development, therapeutics and diagnostics. To make these three accessible to the public, the law provides that they be developed with taxpayers’ funds and that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services ensures this so that the federal government can purchase them at a “fair and reasonable price” and that they will be affordable in the commercial market. More than $2 billion of this money will go to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), to prioritize “platform-based technologies and manufacturing in the United States of vaccines and therapeutics.” Another $836 million will be destined to the National Institutes of Health to support this research, including $10 million to train hospital employees, emergency first responders and other health care workers to reduce their exposure to the virus. 300 million will go to a contingency fund for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, and $61 million to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review and approve vaccines and expand emergency use authorizations.
Another nearly $1 billion of the funds released by the bill will be used in preparing care facilities and providing pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. Of these, half a billion should be used for pharmaceuticals, masks, protective equipment, and others, to be distributed to state and local agencies where there is a shortage of these materials. Another $100 million will go to community health centers to support smaller outpatient clinics in underserved urban and rural areas. The rest of the money will go towards funding for hospital preparedness, state and local pathogen treatment centers, and increasing the capacity of health centers across the country.
In addition, $1.25 billion will go overseas to “prevent and respond to further spread of the virus.” This includes $264 million for emergency consular operations in other countries, embassy preparedness and evacuation of U.S. citizens if required; $435 million to activate overseas health prevention, preparedness and response systems; $300 million for humanitarian assistance to countries coping with the virus; and another $250 million for the Economic Support Fund.
The remainder of the total funds approved under this bipartisan, bicameral agreement are divided as follows: 500 million to release certain restrictions on Medicare telehealth services, so that providers who subscribe to this program will serve their beneficiaries regardless of whether they are in a rural community, and with medical assistance in their homes; $1 billion in subsidies for low-interest loans to small businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak; $136 million for reimbursement to health programs: as the document recalls, in response to the coronavirus crisis, the Trump administration “diverted money from critical health programs,” including those for mental health treatment and prevention, substance abuse, and low income family heating and cooling assistance (LIHEAP) programs.
“As we confront this crisis,” Senator Patrick Leahy said, “it is important to remember that we are not Republicans or Democrats in this matter. We are Americans. I have been here long enough to see that when we come together, the Senate can be the conscience of the nation. Now is one of those times.”
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