It’s Friday and time for the week’s final NCMS Morning Rounds.
August 28, 2020
First, a little something to brighten your Friday! Click below to start your day with this uplifting and tuneful 3-minute video.
Watch the video
Tuesday is Application Deadline for NC Job Retention Grants
Earlier this year, the NC General Assembly appropriated $15 million in federal relief funds to assist North Carolina businesses and nonprofit organizations that have experienced interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If your business has not already received assistance under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, you may be eligible for up to $250,000 from the state’s new Job Retention Grant Program (JRG). But you will need to act quickly – the strict deadline is this Tuesday, Sept. 1.
You can learn more and apply at the NC Department of Commerce website here.
To qualify for a grant award, applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements, which include:
- Not having participated in the federal Paycheck Protection Program, the federal Main Street Loan Program, or the state Rapid Recovery Loan Program.
• Having maintained at least 90 percent of the number of full-time employees in North Carolina at the end of June 2020 as it did at the end of February 2020.
• A reduction in sales (in the case of a for-profit business) or receipts (for nonprofits) of more than 10 percent when comparing March-May 2020 to March-May 2019 levels.
Applicants are eligible for a grant up to 125 percent of two months of its 2019 average monthly payroll costs, up to a maximum of $250,000. All applicants that apply and are eligible may expect to receive some level of assistance, but the actual amount of the grant will depend on the total number of eligible requests received by the program.
NCDHHS Child Care Resources for Working Parents
With school now underway, working parents on your staff may be facing the added stress of finding a safe place for their children during the day that can also support their remote learning. The good news is that there is ample licensed child care available across the state, according to the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).
In partnership with Child Care Resources and Referral, the NCDHHS created a free hotline to connect families to licensed care for their school-age children. Families can call the hotline at 1-888-600-1685.
You can help by letting staff and patients know they have child care options by:
• Sharing NCDHHS’ Child Care Hotline flyer (English, Spanish).
• Sharing the Parent Toolkit on What To Know When Looking for School-Age Child Care
• Including information in your newsletters, presentations and other communication vehicles.
Federal Regulatory Update
NCMS partner organization the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) recently released its federal regulatory update, which highlights PAI’s advocacy on matters that impact physicians and patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these efforts have focused on securing adequate financial supports and regulatory flexibilities to allow physicians to continue to safely care for their patients and remain financially viable.
As the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) continues to evolve, PAI is working to share feedback with members of Congress and federal regulators on issues that physicians and patients are facing. Please visit PAI’s COVID-19 Resources page and the Healthsperien COVID-19 Resource Updates page for up-to-date information.
Included in the updates is PAI’s complete summary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) lengthy proposed rules for the Medicare physician fee schedule and Quality Payment Program and a copy of PAI’s letter to the National Governors Association (NGA) outlining key COVID-19-related policy recommendations and a summary of recommended priorities for policymakers. Read the letter.
In the News
CDC Proposes Guidelines for Distributing Coronvirus Vaccine in the US, CNBC, 8-26-20
Learning Opportunity
A virtual forum focused on COVID-19 and the health insurance coverage gap in western North Carolina will be held Wednesday, Sept. 2 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Learn more and register here.
If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!