The President and the entire Senate leadership have agreed on a third COVID-19 relief bill known as the CARES Act (H.R. 748). Senator Charles Grassley, the Senate Finance Committee Chair, has released a summary of the bill’s taxation and unemployment insurance provisions and summary of its health provisions. The key health provisions affecting federal employees benefits are the following:

Sec. 3701. Health Savings Accounts for Telehealth Services
This section would allow a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA) to cover telehealth services prior to a patient reaching the deductible, increasing access for patients who may have the COVID-19 virus and protecting other patients from potential exposure.

Sec. 3702. Over-the-Counter Medical Products without Prescription
This section would allow patients to use funds in HSAs and Flexible Spending Accounts for the purchase of over-the-counter medical products, including those needed in quarantine and social distancing, without a prescription from a physician.

The FEHBlog mistakenly stated on Sunday that that the House of Representatives would be back on Capitol Hill yesterday. In fact, as the Wall Street Journal explains, House members remain on recess this week. Should the Senate as anticipated pass the CARES Act today, the House leadership is expected to seek approval by a unanimous consent motion. A single member of Congress can block such a motion so a lot rides on entire House leadership support for the bill. According to the Wall Street Journal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants the unanimous consent to clear the House. This motion could be brought to the House floor on tomorrow or Friday. The Journal further reports that the President is ready to sign the bill into law.

The FEHBlog has found a link to a COVID-19 statistics site, The COVID-19 Tracking Project, that displays aggregated lab results from COVID-19 testing, U.S. state by state, where available.