On Thursday, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law. Biden gave a televised address to the nation later in the day, marking the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdown. During his address, he announced that he will direct all states to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1. He said that, if Americans continue to get vaccinated, then people may be able to begin gathering safely in small groups by July 4.

On Friday, a bill (H.R. 1868) was introduced in the House to further pause 2% Medicare cuts to providers as well wipe the statutory PAYGO scorecard.

On Wednesday, President Biden hosted an event with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its production partner, Merck. At the event, President Biden announced that his Administration will order an additional 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from J&J, which he said will allow the U.S. to vaccinate all adults in the country by this May. It was announced last week that J&J and Merck would work together to expand the production of J&J’s vaccine.

On Monday, the CDC released the first set of guidance for fully-vaccinated individuals. According to the guidelines, people who have received their full COVID-19 vaccine dose(s) can now “visit with other fully-vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart,” “visit with unvaccinated people from one other household indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart if everyone in the other household is at low risk for severe disease,” and “refrain from quarantine and testing if they do not have symptoms of COVID-19 after contact with someone who has COVID-19.”

Also this week, Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, announced that she re-introduced the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act (PHISLA). The legislation would devote $4.5 billion to establishing a new core public health infrastructure program. The bill is aimed at continuing the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as preparing the country for future public health crises.

On Thursday, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law. Biden gave a televised address to the nation later in the day, marking the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdown. He stated, “Today, I signed into law the American Rescue Plan, an historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people… It extends unemployment benefits. It helps small businesses. It lowers healthcare premiums for many. It provides food and nutrition, [and it] keeps families in their homes. And it will cut child poverty in [the] country in half.” Congressional Democrats sprinted toward passing the bill before enhanced unemployment benefits from December’s COVID package expire on March 14. Provisions in the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package include:

On Wednesday, President Biden hosted an event with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its production partner, Merck. At the event, President Biden announced that his Administration will order an additional 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from J&J, which he said will allow the U.S. to vaccinate all adults in the country by this May. It was announced last week that J&J and Merck would work together to expand the production of J&J’s vaccine.

On Monday, the CDC released the first set of guidance for fully-vaccinated individuals. According to the guidelines, people who have received their full COVID-19 vaccine dose(s) can now “visit with other fully-vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart,” “visit with unvaccinated people from one other household indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart if everyone in the other household is at low risk for severe disease,” and “refrain from quarantine and testing if they do not have symptoms of COVID-19 after contact with someone who has COVID-19.” However, the CDC did face criticism from the airline industry after recommending that fully vaccinated people continue to avoid travel. CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, defended the CDC’s position, stating that "We are really trying to restrain travel at this current period of time, and we're hopeful that our next set of guidance will have more science around what vaccinated people can do, perhaps travel being among them."

Two months into the Biden Administration, President Biden has yet to nominate a Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Senate has yet to confirm a Secretary of HHS. Janet Woodcock has served as the Acting FDA Commissioner and has been recommended by many to serve in the role long-term. However, she has faced opposition from some due to the role she played during the opioid crisis. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee had a split vote, 14-14, on the confirmation of HHS Secretary nominee Xavier Becerra. Therefore, pursuant to the organizing resolution, the Senate had a floor vote this week of 51-48 to discharge Becerra’s nomination out of committee. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican Senator to vote in Becerra’s favor. Becerra’s confirmation vote is expected to happen as early as next Wednesday, and he is expected to be confirmed.

On Friday, a bill (H.R. 1868) was introduced in the House to further pause 2% Medicare cuts to providers as well wipe the statutory PAYGO scorecard. The 2% payment cut originated from the Budget Control Act of 2011, which was created to cut down on federal spending. Congress initially paused the payment cut through the end of 2020 in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Then, in December, the pause was extended to March 31, 2021 in response to the impact the pandemic has had on providers’ finances. The $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package that President Biden just signed into law would be exempt from statutory PAYGO scorecards under this bill, which would prevent additional Medicare pay cuts. The House is expected to vote next week on extending the pause beyond the March 31 expiration date. 

On Tuesday, the DOJ asked the Supreme Court to dismiss litigation regarding the Trump-era expansion of the "public charge" rule. In 2019, the Trump Administration expanded the definition of "public charge" to cause more people to be denied entry to the U.S. based on concerns that they would largely depend on government assistance for their income. Prior to the Trump Administration, the rule primarily applied to immigrants who relied on cash benefits. The Trump Administration expanded the rule to apply to non-cash benefits, such as Medicaid. During the Trump Administration, lower courts could not agree on whether the expanded rule was lawful, and the Administration appealed to the Supreme Court. The Biden Administration’s decision to request the case’s dismissal did not come as a surprise, as the President signed an Executive Order in February that ordered federal agencies to review the Trump-era rule.

On Wednesday, Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, announced that she re-introduced the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act (PHISLA). The legislation would devote $4.5 billion to establishing a new core public health infrastructure program. The bill is aimed at continuing the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as preparing the country for future public health crises. The re-introduction of the bill came one day after experts testified in a Senate HELP Committee that the U.S. public health system lacks in resources and staff. When discussing the bill, Senator Murray said, “As we continue our efforts to end the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and rebuild stronger and fairer, it’s critical we end the cycle of crisis and complacency when it comes to funding for public health.” More information on the Act can be found here.

This week, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on the frontline COVID-19 response. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed that more needs to be done to address the health and economic consequences of the pandemic. Lawmakers also stressed the importance of preparing for future pandemics. The witnesses emphasized the need to continue to ramp up vaccine distribution, as well as COVID-19 testing. The witnesses also urged the need to invest in therapeutics, America’s public health infrastructure, and preparedness efforts for future public health crises. MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.