Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, and Other Extensions Act

Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, and Other Extensions Act

This bill provides continuing FY2021 appropriations to federal agencies through December 18, 2020, and extends several expiring health programs.

DIVISION A--FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2021

Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021

This division provides continuing FY2021 appropriations to federal agencies through December 18, 2020.

It is known as a continuing resolution (CR) and prevents a government shutdown that would otherwise occur if the FY2021 appropriations bills have not been enacted when the existing CR expires on December 11, 2020.

DIVISION B--HEALTH EXTENDERS

TITLE I--MEDICARE AND MEDICAID EXTENDERS

(Sec. 1101) This section extends certain minimum adjustments to the work geographic index with respect to the payment of physician services under Medicare.

(Sec. 1102) This section extends funding for state health insurance programs, area agencies on aging, aging and disability resource centers, and technical assistance related to outreach and enrollment with respect to Medicare and other programs.

(Sec. 1103) This section extends funding for certain Medicare quality-measurement activities.

(Sec. 1104) This section extends the Medicaid demonstration program for certified community behavioral health clinics.

(Sec. 1105) This section extends the applicability of Medicaid eligibility criteria that protect against spousal impoverishment for recipients of home- and community-based services.

(Sec. 1106) This section delays certain reductions to Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital allotments.

(Sec. 1107) This section extends the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program. (Under this program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) may award grants to state Medicaid programs to assist states in increasing the use of home and community care for long-term care and decreasing the use of institutional care.)

TITLE II--PUBLIC HEALTH EXTENDERS AND FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION PROVISIONS

Subtitle A--Public Health Extenders

(Sec. 1201) This section extends funding for specified programs for community health centers; teaching health centers that operate graduate medical education programs; and the National Health Service Corps, which provides scholarships and student loan repayment programs for health care workers.

(Sec. 1202) This section extends funding for research grants to prevent and cure Type I diabetes and grants for services to prevent and treat diabetes among Native Americans.

(Sec. 1203) This section extends funding for certain grants for states to educate adolescents on the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Subtitle B--Food and Drug Administration Provisions

(Sec. 1211) This section extends the authority of the Food and Drug Administration to designate a rare pediatric disease drug application as eligible for a priority review voucher.

TITLE III--OFFSETS

(Sec. 1301) This section requires the CMS to share Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare prescription drug benefit enrollment information with liability insurers in response to Medicare secondary payer inquiries. Specifically, the CMS must share whether the claimant who is the subject of the inquiry was entitled to Medicare benefits during the preceding three-year period on any basis, and must also share the plan name and address of any MA or prescription drug benefit plan in which the claimant was enrolled.

(Sec. 1302) This section requires the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to revise regulations that allow a practitioner to administer narcotic drugs to a person for purposes of relieving acute withdrawal symptoms while the person awaits arrangements for narcotic treatment. The regulations currently authorize up to a one-day supply of narcotic drugs at one time, for a total of up to three days.

The DEA must revise these regulations so as to allow a practitioner to dispense up to a three-day supply of narcotic drugs to one person or for one person's use at one time for the purpose of initiating maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment, or both.

(Sec. 1303) This section increases the funds available to the Medicaid Improvement Fund for state activities relating to mechanized claims systems beginning in FY2025.

TITLE IV--BUDGETARY EFFECTS

(Sec. 1401) This section exempts the budgetary effects of this division from (1) the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO), (2) the Senate PAYGO rule, and (3) certain budget scorekeeping rules.