Page 20 - InCommand Volume 31

The Big Picture
Ken LaSala
Director of Government Relations International Association of Fire Chiefs
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague our nation, the IAFC is working hard to help fire and EMS departments to get the equipment and funding that they need to serve their communities.
The emergence of the novel Coronavirus and the resulting illness, COVID-19, shook up the Washington, D.C. area. The rising number of deaths and infections from COVID-19 and the collapse of the stock market in March forced both President Trump and Congress to put away their plans for the spring and focus on fighting the virus spread and mitigating the economic effects of the disease. In addition, most of the executive branch and Hill staff tried to do their jobs from home due to social distancing orders.
The IAFC has been busy during this time. As the federal government and Congress have focused on COVID-19 response, the IAFC had its president, Chief Gary Ludwig, meet -- in person -- with White House staff and staff
at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Transportation’s Office of EMS on March 10. We followed up over the past two months with virtual briefings with House and Senate leadership staff, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff, and the Congressional committees covering the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Fire Administration.
In addition, Chief Ludwig has met by phone with FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, U.S. Fire Administrator Chief Keith Bryant, and other senior leadership at DHS. These calls have educated the federal officials about the fire and EMS response to COVID-19; the desperate need for supplies; and the economic effects of the pandemic, including proposed budget cuts and layoffs.
On March 27, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (P.L. 116-136). This bill included aid for local jurisdictions including fire and EMS departments to help fund the COVID-19 response. Here is a summary of the provisions.
• $100 million for the Assistance to Firefighter Grants program for PPE, supplies, and reimbursements for COVID-19 response. FEMA opened the application period for this grant program on April 28 and it ran until May 15.
• $100 billion for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund
to reimburse eligible health-care providers, including fire departments
that transport Medicare and Medicaid patients, for health-care expenses
or lost revenue directly attributable to the coronavirus. The HHS released these funds in various batches. The first batch reimbursed agencies that billed last year for Medicare with 6.19% of the total Medicare payments that were received in 2019. These funds were distributed based on Tax ID Numbers (TIN), so fire and EMS departments may have to check with their municipalities’ treasurers or finance departments to see if these funds arrived. For the second round of CMS payments, fire and EMS departments have
to register through a new CMS portal: https://covid19.linkhealth.com/ In addition, the Health Resources and Services Administration will be accepting applications starting on May 6 to reimburse health care providers (including fire and EMS agencies) that have provided aid to uninsured COVID-19 patients. To register for this program, fire and EMS departments will have to use a HRSA portal: https://coviduninsuredclaim.linkhealth.com/
20 InCommand JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org