The first major legislation enacted in response to COVID-19 was the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (“1st Act”) which was signed into law on March 6th, 2020. The bill funds various government agencies and programs to assist in the preliminary relief efforts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
As seen above, $6.7 billion of the total $8.38 billion granted in the 1st Act are funds allocated to domestic efforts. The breakdown of funding is as follows:
Vaccine Funding: $3.4 billion for Public Health and Social Services which includes:
CDC Funding: $1.9 billion for the CDC which includes:
NIH Funding: $0.8 billion for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to conduct research on therapies, vaccines, diagnostics, and other health technologies at the NIH
FDA Funding: $61 million to the FDA for the development and review of vaccines, therapeutics, medical devices and countermeasures, address potential supply chain interruptions, and the enforcement of counterfeit products
SBA Loans: $20 million for SBA disaster loans that will be made available to entities financially impacted due to COVID-19
(Provided is a visual aid in the drastic addition to SBA funding from the March 6th Act to the March 27th Act. The Preparedness Act is equivalent to 0.0053% of the amount awarded in the CARES Act.)
Telehealth: At an estimated cost of $500 million, the bill includes a waiver removing restrictions on Medicare providers allowing them to offer telehealth services regardless of whether the beneficiary of these services is in a rural community
CDC Funding: $300 million to support the CDC’s global disease detection and response efforts.