January 2021 Update
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 into law to close out the 116th Session of Congress. The measure included a combination of $900 billion in coronavirus relief spending and a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending measure to fund the federal government for the entire 2021 fiscal year. Highlights of the measure included:
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) received $42.9 billion, which is a $1.25 billion increase over FY 2020;
$2,262,915,000 for the Administration for Community Living;
$800,000,000 for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research account. This is equal to the FY 2020 enacted level;
$645,237,000 for the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases;
$156,823,000 for the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH);
$4,000,000 for the Limb Loss program, which supports programs and activities to improve the health of people with limb loss and promote their well-being, quality of life, prevent disease, and provide support to their families and caregivers. Maintaining these programs is critical to support independent living within the disability community across their life course;
$11,321,000 for the Traumatic Brain Injury program, which supports implementation and planning grants to states for coordination and improvement of services to individuals and families with traumatic brain injuries. Such services can include pre-hospital care, emergency department care, hospital care, rehabilitation, transitional services, education, employment, long-term support, and protection and advocacy services;
$114,470,000 for the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR);
Additional federal support for residency training programs, lifts the arbitrary cap on Medicare funding for GME, and adds 1,000 new Medicare-supported GME positions at both rural and urban teaching hospitals;
Provides for a one-time, one-year increase in the Medicare physician fee schedule of 3.75% in order to support physicians and other professionals in adjusting to changes in the Medicare physician fee schedule during 2021, and to provide relief during the COVID-19 public health emergency;
Provides for a three-month delay of the Medicare sequester payment reductions through March 31, 2021;
Appropriates an additional $250 million to the FCC for its COVID-19 Telehealth Program authorized under the CARES Act. The program provides immediate support to eligible health care providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by fully funding their telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to provide critical connected care services.
Update provided by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
