The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20.

Provider Relief Fund

HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with a new question that appears on page 46 and is marked “Added 10/15/2020.”  The new question is An organization has prescription sales as part of its revenue.  Can these sales be captured in the data submitted as a part of revenue from patient care?”  The answer is “Generally no, prescriptions sale revenue may not be captured as part of revenue from patient care.  Only patient care revenues from providing health care, services, and supports, as provided in a medical setting, at home, or in the community may be included.  Patient care revenues do include savings obtained by providers through enrollment in the 340B Program.”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

 

Department of Health and Human Services

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Food and Drug Administration

  • The FDA has re-issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for certain filtering facepiece respirators that are not approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
  • The FDA has removed epinephrine from the list of drugs that it has authorized for temporary compounding during the COVID-19 emergency.  Find the updated list of authorized drugs here.
  • The FDA will host a virtual town hall for COVID-19 test developers on October 28, 2020 from 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm (eastern).  The purpose of this town hall is to help answer technical questions about the development and validation of tests for COVID-19.  Go here for information on how to join the event.

 

Department of Labor

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published an FAQ on how N95 respirators protect wearers from COVID-19 exposure.

 Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System will hold a webinar for its Main Street Lending Program on Wednesday, October 21 at 2:00 (eastern).  That program supports lending to small and medium-sized for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations that were in sound financial condition before the COVID-19 pandemic but lack access to credit on reasonable terms.  Go here to learn more about the program, sign up for the webinar, and submit questions about the program.