AHIP, BCBSA Call For Federal COVID-19 Relief Funding

As the 116th Congress comes to a close, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) urged legislators to provide COVID-19 relief, calling for access to testing and a safe and effective vaccine for all Americans, more robust Medicaid and Medicare supports, and additional federal funding for states and hospitals.

COVID-19 continues to put pressure on America’s healthcare system and overwhelm struggling communities and families across the country. The organizations called for Congress to provide targeted and timely solutions to help get the economy and country back on track.

“We have seen first-hand how American families are struggling financially through the COVID-19 crisis. The unemployment rate in the United States is twice as high as before the pandemic began. New cases of COVID-19 are rising rapidly throughout the country just as non-COVID services have returned to pre-pandemic levels,” the organizations said in the letter.

The pair noted that while health insurance providers continue to invest billions of dollars to help Americans get the COVID-19 services they need, more bipartisan action needs to be taken.

“The current surge of coronavirus cases makes clear that, despite important steps Congress has already taken, more needs to be done,” the letter continued.

The CARES Act (HR 748) took action to ensure that cost would not be a barrier to COVID-19 testing. However, with growing capacity concerns, AHIP and BCBSA called for additional federal funding for screening, surveillance testing, and contact tracing. The organizations also called for a reasonable pricing benchmark for tests administered out of network to prevent price gouging.

As COVID-19 vaccines approach FDA authorization, Congress must support a significant federal fund to provide the outreach that is necessary to build public trust in the vaccine and ensure its equal distribution nationwide. To ensure the success of the vaccine, AHIP and BCBSA urged Congress to provide states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with additional funds for distribution.

In addition, the organizations implored Congress to ensure vaccine affordability after the doses purchased by the government are exhausted.

Next, AHIP and BCBSA called attention to widespread health coverage issues affecting Americans, noting that 3.5 percent of employers (accounting for 300,000 covered lives) terminated their health insurance contracts, and employers representing 1.6 million covered lives were unable to pay health insurance premiums.

“Americans are in a health coverage crisis — one that is impacting hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of businesses, and could grow over the coming months,” the letter stated.

AHIP and BCBSA specifically called on Congress to increase the utility of programs that help employers keep their employees working and maintain coverage As well as temporary funding for the full cost of COBRA premiums for those who lose employment.

The letter also urged Congress to provide stability for the 25 million seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on Medicare Advantage and Part D for their healthcare coverage by calculating medical loss ratios (MLR) on a three-year rolling average.

They also called for the enactment of the bipartisan Ensuring Parity in MA for Audio-Only Telehealth Act (S 4840, HR 7659) which would “count diagnoses from audio-only telehealth services for MA risk adjustment purposes and apply a 24-36 month look back period to ensure all chronic condition diagnoses are still reflected in the individual’s risk score,” according to the letter.

The impact of COVID-19 also requires the strengthening of Medicaid as an essential safety net. AHIP and BCBSA called for legislators to enhance federal Medicaid financing by increasing states’ Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by at least 12 percentage points until a state’s unemployment rate has fallen below five percent.

Lastly, the letter called for Congress to provide additional federal funding to America’s hospitals to make sure facilities have the resources they need to bring the pandemic under control. The organizations also noted the need for continued expansion of access to telehealth, particularly for non-COVID patients with single chronic or acute conditions.

“The pandemic has strained provider capacity and exacerbated socioeconomic conditions for millions of Americans. Together, we urge Congress to take action and adopt these recommendations to ensure that Americans have the care and peace of mind they deserve. By working together, we will defeat the disease and overcome the COVID-19 crisis,” the letter concluded.