Pub. 5 Issue 3

20 Issue 1 2020 • $500 million for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides wholesome and nutritious meals for pregnant women, new moms, and young kids. • $400millionfortheCommodityAssistance Program,whichprovides emergencymeals for low-incomeAmericans and the elderly. • Additional funding for the Supplemental NutritionAssistance Program, commonly called “food stamps,” to assist families with children who normally receive free or discounted price breakfast and lunch at schools that are closed due to the coronavirus. • $160 million for the Meals on Wheels Program to ensure that homebound and transportation-limited seniors have access to healthy meals. Health Coverage & Insurance Provisions The bill goes a long way towards improving access to care by requiring health insurance companies to cover tests and services related to the coronavirus without cost-sharing from patients or prior authorization requirements. The package also waives cost-sharing requirements and testing costs for patients covered by Medicare,MedicareAdvantage,Medicaid, and TRICARE (military). Suppor ting Medicaid & the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) In an effort to support states’ Medicaid programs and expand access to coronavirus testing, the bill boosts the amount of money states receive forMedicaid services fromthe federal government, known as the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by6.2%if theyprovideMedicaidcoverageof coronavirus testing and treatment without requiring cost-sharing from recipients. Emergency Family & Medical Leave Due to Coronavirus The bill implements a public health emergency leave program under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Specifically, the bill applies to workers that have been on the job at least 30 days at government agencies and private organ izations t hat employ 51– 499 people, although the text is silent as to whether affiliated entities should aggregate employees for the purpose of determining coverage. The existing FMLA is interpreted to require that entities aggregate their employees to determine whether theymeet the coverage threshold where the entities are under common control. However, aggregating employees under the existing FMLA expands the number of covered employees, whereas applying that interpretation to H.R. 6201 would result in fewer covered employees. As such, although courts may choose to interpret H.R. 6201 as they do the existing FMLA, it is currently unclear whether affiliated entities may aggregate their employees when determining whether H.R. 6201’s leave provisions apply to them. The bill allows leave if the employee needs to care for children under 18 whose school or daycare closes due to coronavirus, or whose child-care is unavailable due to coronavirus. It would allow the first 10 days of leave to be unpaid but would allow the employee to concurrently use any paid vacation, personal, medical or sick leave that they have previously accrued. After the tenth day of leave, eligible employers would be required to provide paid leave for each day an employee takes leave at a rate equal to 66.67% of their normal pay. For employees with variable hours each week, paid leave would be equal to the average number of hours worked per day over the previous sixmonths. Finally, H.R. 6201 limits paid leave employer costs to $200 per day or $10,000 total for each employee and requires employers to make a reasonable effort to restore the employee to their previous position or an equivalent position with the same benefits, pay, and other employment conditions upon returning from leave. Emergency Paid Sick Leave H.R. 6201 requires governments and employers with 499 employees or fewer to provide paid sick time through December 31, 2020, if any employee is unable to work due to leave because: 1. The employee is subject to government quarantine due to coronavirus; 2. The employee is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus andneeds an examination or medical diagnosis; 3. The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to coronavirus; or 4. The employee is caring for someone who is subject to government quarantine due to coronavirus, or who is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, who needs an examinationormedical diagnosis related to coronavirus; or 5. The employee is caring for a child whose school/child-care has closed due to coronavirus. The Secretary of Labor is allowed to exclude (1) employers of certain health care providers and emergency responders, and (2) exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees from providing paid leave. Full-time employees would be entitled to 80 hours of paid sick time, while part-time employees would be eligible for an amount of leave equal to their normal scheduledhours during a two-week period. Under the bill, paid sick time must be immediately available for employees  RELIEF BILL — continued on page 21