The National Association of Health Underwriters has been keeping informed about COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Below are links to updates on legislation, regulation and guidance on both the federal and state levels in response to COVID-19. Please visit the Coronavirus Information section of the NAHU website for more resources.
The NAHU COVID-19 Relief Fund has been created to provide financial support to NAHU members and their families that have been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial support could provide monetary assistance with out of pocket medical expenses, unanticipated funeral expenses, or other special circumstance COVID-19 related expenses for members in good standing and their legal dependents.
If you or fellow member has been impacted and you would like to apply for assistance, please click here.
If you are in a position to make a contribution to help support your fellow NAHU member, we ask that you please donate here. These contributions are tax-deductible.
Congress
- President Biden signed the PPP Extension Act of 2021 into law. It will extend the application deadline to May 31 and give the Small Business Administration additional time to process applications.
- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with 20 other Senate Democrats, urged President Biden to include recurring direct payments to individuals and enhanced unemployment benefits for the duration of the pandemic in his Build Back Better plan.
- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with other Democratic senators, sent a letter to President Biden urging him to permanently expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit included in the American Rescue Plan.
- Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Cornyn (R-TX), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced bipartisan legislation to recapture and allocate unused immigrant visas for nurses and doctors as a temporary stopgap to address shortages of health workers and combat COVID-19.
Administration
- As part of the White House’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, the Biden Administration unveiled a proposal for an investment of $30 billion over the next four years to help prevent future pandemics.
- The Biden Administration announced it will extend the national eviction moratorium for another three months, until June 30.
- President Biden announced that by April 19, 90% of U.S. adults will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and 90% of Americans will have a vaccination site within five miles of their home.
- The CDC announced fully vaccinated people can travel safely within the United States, vaccinated travelers can forgo COVID-19 testing and they do not have to self-quarantine before and after travel.
- HHS announced that through a partnership between the CDC and the Administration for Community Living, it will provide nearly $100 million to help increase vaccinations among older adults and people with disabilities.
- The Small Business Administration revised the Paycheck Protection Program platform procedures for addressing hold codes on first-draw PPP loans and compliance check error messages on first-draw PPP loans and second-draw PPP loans.
- The IRS announced it will take steps to automatically refund money this spring and summer to people who filed their tax return reporting unemployment compensation before the recent changes made by the American Rescue Plan.
States
- Click here to see where states stand on reopening.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released resources to assist states to reopen.
- CMS has approved over 200 requests for state relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including recent approvals for Alaska, Iowa, Hawaii, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and Virginia.