Protecting Our Seniors from the Pandemic Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3772 To direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop, submit, and allocate funding to advance a plan for efficiently building testing capacity for facilities serving significant populations of individuals aged 65 and older. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop, submit, and allocate funding to advance a plan for efficiently building testing capacity for facilities serving significant populations of individuals aged 65 and older. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Seniors 4 from the Pandemic Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3772.IS S3772 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3772 IS SEC. 2. PROTECTING OUR SENIORS PLAN. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 3 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 4 retary’’), in consultation with relevant stakeholders, de- 5 partments, and agencies, shall develop a Protecting Our 6 Seniors Plan and submit such plan to the Committee on 7 Appropriations, the Committee on Health, Education, 8 Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on Finance, and the 9 Special Committee on Aging of the Senate and to the 10 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Energy 11 and Commerce, and the Committee on Ways and Means 12 of the House of Representatives. 13 (b) PLAN CONTENT.—The Protecting Our Seniors 14 Plan under subsection (a) shall— 15 (1) outline the portions of previous and planned 16 allocations from the Public Health and Social Serv- 17 ices Emergency Fund related to COVID–19 testing 18 capacity that have been targeted or will be targeted 19 to meet the needs of nursing facilities, long-term 20 care facilities, senior living communities, and other 21 facilities that serve a significant population of indi- 22 viduals aged 65 and older; 23 (2) establish national goals and objectives re- 24 lated to meeting the COVID–19 testing needs of 25 such providers and facilities and bolstering testing 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3772.IS S3772 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3772 IS capacity for workers and other individuals who regu- 1 larly interact with individuals aged 65 and older; 2 (3) describe progress at the Federal, State, 3 local, and Tribal levels towards meeting the COVID– 4 19 testing needs of such providers and facilities; 5 (4) identify remaining COVID–19 testing ac- 6 cess challenges and needs related to protecting sen- 7 iors served by or residing in nursing facilities, long- 8 term care facilities, senior living communities, and 9 other facilities that provide treatment, care, or other 10 services to a significant population of individuals 11 aged 65 and older; 12 (5) issue recommendations to Congress regard- 13 ing the authorities, flexibility, and additional appro- 14 priations needed to address COVID–19 testing ac- 15 cess and capacity challenges; and 16 (6) include such other information as the Sec- 17 retary determines appropriate. 18 (c) STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION.—In developing 19 the Protecting Our Seniors Plan, the Secretary shall con- 20 sult, where appropriate, with relevant stakeholders, de- 21 partments, and agencies, including— 22 (1) the governors or designees of States and 23 territories, and local governments, Tribes, and Trib- 24 al organizations; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3772.IS S3772 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3772 IS (2) the Director of the National Institutes of 1 Health; 2 (3) the Director of the Centers for Disease 3 Control and Prevention; 4 (4) the Administrator of the Centers for Medi- 5 care & Medicaid Services; 6 (5) the Administrator of the Health Resources 7 and Services Administration; 8 (6) the Administrator of the Federal Emer- 9 gency Management Agency; 10 (7) administrators and other leaders from nurs- 11 ing facilities, long-term care facilities, senior living 12 communities, and other facilities that serve a signifi- 13 cant population of individuals aged 65 and older; 14 (8) health care workers and other essential 15 workers who regularly interact with individuals aged 16 65 and older; 17 (9) individuals who reside in, or receive care 18 from, nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, sen- 19 ior living communities, or other facilities that serve 20 a significant population of individuals aged 65 and 21 older; 22 (10) public health laboratories, commercial lab- 23 oratories, academic laboratories, and other clinical 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3772.IS S3772 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3772 IS laboratories that process tests associated with 1 COVID–19; 2 (11) manufacturers and developers of diag- 3 nostic tests associated with COVID–19; and 4 (12) epidemiologists and other health care ex- 5 perts. 6 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section and in section 3, 7 the term ‘‘senior living communities’’ includes independent 8 living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care 9 retirement communities, and personal care homes, adult 10 care homes, and residential care facilities for the elderly 11 with 15 or more residential units. 12 SEC. 3. ALLOCATING APPROPRIATE FUNDING TO PROTECT 13 OUR SENIORS. 14 (a) FUNDING FOR TESTING CAPACITY TO PROTECT 15 SENIORS.—Out of the amounts appropriated under divi- 16 sion B of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health 17 Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139) for nec- 18 essary expenses associated with COVID–19 tests, the Sec- 19 retary shall allocate not less than $3,500,000,000, from 20 amounts not otherwise allocated, for expenses related to 21 building consistent and sustainable testing capacity for 22 nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, senior living 23 communities, and other facilities that serve a significant 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3772.IS S3772 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3772 IS population of individuals aged 65 and older, as determined 1 by the Secretary. 2 (b) FUNDING FOR PROVIDERS FOR TESTING-RE- 3 LATED PURPOSES.—Out of the amounts appropriated 4 under division B of the Paycheck Protection Program and 5 Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139) for 6 eligible health care providers, the Secretary shall allocate 7 not less than $6,500,000,000, from amounts not otherwise 8 allocated, for nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, 9 senior living communities, and other facilities that serve 10 a significant population of individuals aged 65 and older, 11 as determined by the Secretary, to be used for expenses 12 related directly or indirectly to COVID–19 testing. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3772.IS S3772 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS