Congress

Virginia launched the first COVID-19 contact tracing app on Wednesday (Aug. 5), using the public health surveillance framework created by an Apple and Google partnership, while other interested states and federal policymakers grapple with how to encourage the public to use them.

Seven major drug companies have launched an initiative to seek regulatory and legislative reforms that allow for expanded electronic drug labeling.

House Ways & Means Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) wrote to CMS Administrator Seema Verma on Wednesday (Aug. 5) that his committee has found large gaps in the COVID-19 data nursing homes are reporting to the government, making it difficult to accurately assess death rates, staffing needs and allocate provider relief funds. Neal wants to know by Aug. 21 how CMS will fix the data collection problems.

Providers and plans applaud CMS’ regulatory proposal to make some telehealth provisions allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent, but many say more needs to be done by the agency and Congress.

Hospitals and other providers that took out Medicare loans earlier this year are beginning to see their pay withheld as those loans come due, and while the Federation of American Hospitals is blaming Congress for not acting quickly to avert the situation, the Medical Group Management Association says CMS should delay and change providers’ repayment obligations during the pandemic.

The House on Friday (July 31) passed 217-197 a fiscal 2021 funding bill containing a cannabis provision that one group argued would effectively prevent FDA from enforcing product safety standards.

As lawmakers and industry experts criticize lack of federal coordination and slow turnaround times on COVID-19 diagnostic tests, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir asserted that reports of widespread delays in receiving test results are largely inaccurate and that there are no significant problems with securing testing supplies.

A group of Senate Democrats are urging Senate leaders to wrap provisions from a data privacy bill introduced in May into the upcoming stimulus package as both sides of the aisle express interest in regulating personal health information collected by third-party apps in order to build public support for contract tracing and public health screening during the pandemic.

In their latest COVID-19 relief package, Senate Republicans propose allocating $4 billion to the United States Agency for International Development, of which $3 billion would go toward U.S. contributions to the international vaccine alliance Gavi, and $1 billion toward supporting vaccine distribution abroad.