coronavirus for reaction and i'm joined by andrew sullivan former acting administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid during the obama administration he joins us from minnesota what's your reaction and into. strong and the w.h.o. well thanks for having me on. you know this is it's not an opportune time to start to defund any efforts at public health i think that should be hopefully obvious to most people to donald trump is no fan of global institution i think he certainly would want to take steps to make sure that blame is placed didn't places other than where he is i'm not suggesting that joe the c.b.c. or anybody else plenty of blame to go around but in the middle of a crisis to take the feet up the street that you need in the middle of a global epidemic doesn't make a lot of sense to me was the obama admin and what the obama administration is you know would have been prepared for this. well look it's hard it's hard to prove a negative i think i think i'd say 2 things one is there was a. structure in place that would have been able to respond more quickly and i think that's that's the

a 2017 report from the center for medicare and medicaid services shows that the average american paidore than twice the per capita average for health care than any other developed nation. >> there are a lot of problems in the health care system. it is way too expensive. part of the problem is prescription drugs are way too expensive, the cost of health care generally is a problem. >> according to a recent report from the organization for economic cooperation, development, americans on average spend about $1200 on prescription drugs in a single year, which is more than what is spent in any other developed nation. >> so why are these drugs so expensive? a big factor in the cost of these drugs is the arduous task of experimentation as well as clinical trials. >> well, when you think about why drugs cost so much and why innovative drugs cost that much, it really is the fact that the drug development cost is so expensive and so risky and unpredictable. the question about how drug prices are set is an interesting one in the united states. much of drug development is about failure. in other

host: talk about the centers for medicare and medicaid end about the flexibility they are giving at this time to hospitals -- and about the flex ability they are giving at this time to hospitals. guest: they have done a lot in the past couple weeks. there are new areas that can basically function as hospitals, so health centers are under contract with all rooms -- with dorm rooms and centers where a lot of those elective procedures would normally take place and now function as hospitals. there are now new telemedicine guidelines. no longer does a patient and a doctor have to already have a relationship to begin a virtual visit. a doctor can start talking to a patient through their phone camera and talk to them about the needs they have, so they can get treatment without a patient having to go to a hospital or doctor's office and potentially expose themselves. that might just be a phone call for someone who might not have a capability to video visit. they want to free up all of the treatment that still needs to happen in some form, but should not be done in a clinical setting. host: first

during the obama administration, andy slavik served at the head of centers for medicare and medicaid services, overseeing health care coverage for 100 million americas and overseeing the type of coverage that millions of americans use for their stays in hospitals. and he helped to repair the broken enrollment of the obama care web site and andy slavik knows how to approach the seemingly overwhelming and impossible to fix and we called him and he is the person i would like to most like to talk to first about what i find as a middle of the night sit up and worry about it issue. joining us, former head of the centers for medicare and medication service, the host of the new podcast "in the bubble" thanks for taking the time to be here tonight. thank you for your expertise. >> thank you, rachel. thank you for your focus on this really incredible important story. >> well, let me ask you if there is anything that i have said about, you can probably tell i feel emotional about it, i'm head up about it, and it literally has been keeping me up. in the way that i have been talking about it, just

to help answer that question i'm joined by former head of the centers for medicare and medicaid servicessenior fellow of the institute for health care improvement who knows this field as well as anyone. let's just start with the basics here. i talked to someone i know at a new york city hospital that's been doing a ton of covid patients that talked about them losing half a billion dollars a month and this is hospitals all over the country hemorrhaging money. why are they losing so much money? >> they are getting squeezed two ways. their costs have gone up. they have to invest capital. hire more staff. they are converting bed spaces that have not been beds before. that takes a lot of money and revenues are down because the normal businesses they depend on for revenue, the elective surgeries, the work of the emergency rooms for non-covid conditions is how hospitals get by financially and that revenue is gone. the other part of the problem is under insurance. we have a frail and chaotic insurance system in this country. we're trying to put patches on it in the covid epidemic but it's coming

also the ability to be able to to make prescriptions but yes in the month of march alone the center for medicare and medicaid services essentially said that they saw dozens of new applicants who showed up with these new billing codes in order for billing to go through so yes there could absolutely be some people who take advantage of it no doubt there will be they'll be they'll be some forms of medicare medicaid fraud that come from this also in some cases doctors essentially would be consulting with patients and it allows them if you handle this the right way to be able to bill for things that you shouldn't necessarily be billing for but i think the. it's a smaller issue you know there's always fraud but i think the good in this case would significantly outweigh the bad in terms of people who really do need the help or even the changes for example of there's a ph versus a doctor actually seeing you and the doctor actually taking the time to see you either way i definitely create some issues here with what the billing do you really see this becoming a possible new permanent alternative for maybe

joining us now, andy slavitt, former head of the centers for medicare and medicaid services, host of w be podcast "in the bubble," mr. slavitt, thanks for making time to be here tonight. thanks for -- thanks for your expertise. >> thank you, rachel. thank you for your focus on this really incredible, important story. >> well, let me ask you if there's anything i have said about it. you can probably tell i feel emotional about it. i'm het up about it. and it really has literally been keeping me up. in the way that i have been talking about it, just as a layman observing these things, am i saying anything that strikes you as wrong? or that feels like the wrong approach to this as a problem? >> the only thing strange is that you're almost the only one saying it. there -- let's step back a second. there is a million and a half americans living in nursing homes today. there is about 15,000 nursing homes in the country. many of them are quite small. and think about who these folks are. people who are 80 today were born at or around the great depression. many have served in the korean war. t

the recommendation of our task force has been to ask the center for medicare and medicaid how toion to look at expand on that model so it could be workable for other states. we know the pennsylvania model was geared specifically for pennsylvania. paymentsea of global is to give government a step onk and not put constraints the various elements of spending that a state or hospital or physician might have to be accounting for. we have been moving in the direction of more and more global payments since the 1980's, when prospective payments was adopted as a model to reimburse hospitals under medicare, where the payment was based on the diagnosis and .ischarge precisely how the payment was used was left up to the hospital. there are various issues that have arisen about whether and wheno account for quality you use global payments and whether to put recording requirements or quality requirements. is to give aa governmental unit more flexibility in how funding is spent. i think that is going to continue to go forward in the future. what do we want to know in its place, in response for giving

she heads the center for medicare and medicaid services and is part of the coronavirus task force. ank you so much for joining us, very grateful for your time. do you think your agency is doing enough, did enough in assisting seniors during the crisis? >> well, first of all, let me just say that our hearts and minds go out to the nursing home patients and their families. this has been an enormously difficult time. and nursing home residents were amongst the most vulnerable to the coronavirus. that's why we took early action, putting out infection control policies, reminding nursing homes of those long-standing guidelines. and we've continued to update that information based on the latest science and information. >> i'd like to take you back to early march. you received a letter from congress raising concerns that nursing homes were especially at risk from covid-19 outbreaks. the letter from senator ron weiden and richard neil accused the administration of previously weakening safety standards to put nursing homes at greater risk to outbreaks. what's your response to that? >> everyth

for nursing homes. amid this pandemic care centers will now required to report patients. a report to patients antheir families and the cdc when they have any coronavirus cases is all according to the centers for medicare and medicaid rvices. >>the government will ao be paying labs to go to nursing care workers. the new and requirement will support the cdc's efforts o monitor the spread of the virus in nursing homes and communities. a stunning numbeof cases of coronavirus in the b area nursing homes, the gateway care and rehalitaon center in hayward is one of the hardest hit 13 residents. there have died. kr four's dan thorn has more. >>a new state report shows more than 200 calirnia, nursing homes have covid-19 cases, 34 of those facilities arein the bay area across 7 counties in congratulating ourselves in california for havi sold by is the curve but social distance is a luxury. home same as it is in a prison, mike dart is an attorney with california vocates for nursing home reform he saysthe lack of attention to nursing home residen who are the st vulnerable. facilities s allowed the hes vus to rapidly spread in the baarea, the gateway care and rehabilitati center in hayward leads the region with mo

i wanted to ask about an action at the centers for medicare and thecaid services, about medicare reimbursement rate for covid testing. do you think this is adequate to encourage more labs to get off the sidelines and increase testing? and a second question -- do you see it being necessary for cdc to alter the clinical criteria for who is eligible to be tested and who should be prioritized? >> patty, do you want to take that? >> i would just respond this way -- that is one principle that may or may not have a huge impact, but if it is not part of , and we aread plan just doing this while shot process, we are not going to get where we need to be. that is why our plan requires the administration to have a comprehensive plan with goals at the end of it. there's lots of ways to do that but you cannot just do one thing today, one thing tomorrow, hope that it works. that is what has been happening and it has not. >> i want to underscore what patty said. we need a comprehensive plan that deals with all aspects. the administration seems to every so often focus on one issue and then move on to the next

about aned to ask action that the centers for medicare and medicare took for medicare reimbursement. do you think that this step is adequate to encourage more labs to get off the sidelines and increase testing? it beingu see necessary for the cdc to alter the clinical criteria for who is eligible to be tested and who should be prioritized? sen. schumer: patty? >> that is one principle that may or may not have a huge impact, but if it's not part of then we are not going to get to where we need to be. that's why our plan requires the administration to have a comprehensive plan with goals at the end so we know how we get there. there are lots of ways to do that, but you cannot do one thing today, one thing tomorrow and hope that it works. that is what has been happening. we need aer: comprehensive plan that deals with all aspects of this. the administration seems, every so often, to focus on one issue and then move onto the next with no plan, no forward thrust. backbbie mentioned, we are in testing. we need a comprehensive plan that deals comprehensively with the need for testing, the s

coronavirus for reaction and i'm joined by andrew sullivan former acting administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid during the obama administration he joins us from minnesota what's your reaction ending to. strong and the w.h.o. . well thanks for having me on. you know this is is not an opportune time to start to defund any efforts at public health i think that should be hopefully obvious to most people you know donald trump is no fan of global institutions and i think he certainly wants to take steps to make sure that blame is placed in places other than where he is i'm not suggesting that the w.h.o. did its job perfectly here i think that whether it's a w.h.o. the c.d.c. or anybody else plenty of blame to go around but in the middle of a crisis to take the feet off the street that you need in the middle of a global epidemic doesn't make a lot of sense to me was the obama had met with the obama administration as you know and have been prepared for this. well look it's hard it's hard to prove a negative i think i think i'd say 2 things one is there was a. structure in place that would

we have a vaccine we're going to have to be very very careful you were saying seated at the center for medicare and medicaid services by seam of arma and she's a member of trump's coronavirus task force you talk to her i do and how is she comfortable how she doing. well look everybody is working incredibly incredibly hard you know this is a crisis that i'd like to think you know doesn't separate us as republicans and democrats the virus spreads equally between democrat and republican as it does in a party and so it should be a moment that people work together on the best ideas. and i think that's happening in a lot of ways i i'm not going to be pollyannish and tell you that there's no politics or no differences there are of course but. i think that you know people want to save the largest number of lives possible then they're working and the right thing in the right direction and i don't envy the task of anybody in the administration right now and that's why i'm even though i'm of a different political party i pledge to do everything i can to help them. you recently launched a podcast call in t

. >> this is a facility that has a five-star rating from the center for medicare services. if this is one of the better facilities, a five-star facility, imagine what's happening in some of the other facilities. >> reporter: excel health care center is joining a number of care homes here in alameda county where coronavirus complications have caused death. at least 13 people have died at gateway rehabilitation and care center in hayward, and nationwide the numbers are grim. so far there have been 9,000 deaths and more than 4,500 facilities. >> the reason for this, of course, is that they are unprepared. they're understaffed,nough staf training. that orter: mcginnis says those need to change in order to stop the coronavirus spread in nursing homes nationwide. in oakland, cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. >>> governor newsom announced new efforts to relieve financial stress on californians. he said that most private student loan companies have now agreed to relief measures. this includes giving borrowers the option to delay payments for 90 days, late payment fees and fines will

centers, health clinics from adding these services and being paid for them so they are no longer available in the hospital. such as urgent care or emergency services. we also call upon the center for medicare and medicaid innovation to develop proposals that would call together multiple pairs and providers based on the global budget and model, similar to the global payment model currently being tested in the state of pennsylvania. we also are calling upon the center to promote models for the integration of rural health care clinics, as well as rural hospitals. with that, i will turn it over to my college to talk about the transformation of clinician payments. >> thank you very much. i am going to be focusing on clinician payments and maternal care. we are seeing the country move towards value-based care. this has been much harder and forward in rural areas. some of the reporting requirements can overwhelm smaller banks. lower volume of services there means there are fewer to spread the overhead costs over. it makes it difficult for rural providers to take on financial risks. our task force has recommended a number of technical to the current payment system to enable more of the patient cen

coronavirus for reaction and i'm joined by andrew slavitt former acting administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid during the obama administration he joins us from minnesota what's your reaction andy to.

coronavirus for reaction and i'm joined by andrew sullivan former acting administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid during the obama administration he joins us from minnesota what's your reaction ending to. strong and the w.h.o. . well thanks for having me on. you know this is is not an opportune time to start to defund any efforts at public health i think that should be hopefully obvious to most people you know donald trump is no fan of global institutions and i think he certainly would want to take steps to make sure that blame is placed in places other than where he is i'm not suggesting that the w.h.o. did its job perfectly here i think that whether it's a w.h.o. the c.d.c. or anybody else plenty of blame to go around but in the middle of a crisis to take the feet off the street that you need in the middle of a global epidemic doesn't make a lot of sense to me was the obama met with the obama administration as you know would have been prepared for this. well look it's hard it's hard to prove a negative i think i think i'd say 2 things one is there was a. structure in place that wou

america we have medicaid for underprivileged americans and at the president's direction the center for medicare medicaid services has given unprecedented waivers for states to expand coverage for coronavirus testing and treatment. >> the president stepped in and told john roberts it is a question and the administration is still looking at it. >> potentially good news, patients to have recovered from the about with covid-19 are donating plasma loaded with antibodies which may help current patients are trying to fight the disease themselves. >> we are undertaking an exciting procedure where we have a recovered positive covid-19 donor who will be donating plasma to be transfused into a patient in our icu who is covid-19 positive. >> let's talk about how this development and others may help in the fight against the virus with medical contributor dr. nicole saphier and senator and doctor bill cassidy, good to have you with us. while we wait for a vaccine which is at least 12-18 months away there are discussions of many other things we could be doing, the plasma from people who have recovered and hav

coronavirus for reaction i'm joined by andrew sullivan former acting administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid during the obama administration he joins us from minnesota what's your reaction and into. strong and.

vigilant and early for weeks adopting the practices and particles directed by the centers for disease control, centers for medicare and medicaid services, state and county guidance to protect the frail and vulnerable residents entrusted to our care area canyon springs caters to residents needing care after hospitalization as well as those with dementia or alzheimer's. 199 residents are housed at this east san jose location on any given day. >> there is tremendous concern among the medical repression and the politicians that the next front will be nursing homes and prisons and other areas where people are confined and can't leave. >> officials say stricter protocols are in place, among them, more stringent is the restrictions, screening of staff and essential visitors, and more frequent monitoring of residents conditions. canyon springs officials say our top priority remains the health and well-being of everyone in our facility. >> this is essentially a war, and it's a matter of triaging every situation, every patient. triaging your facilities and equipment to put to the best use. >> dr. mark schwartz says there ar

we appreciate it. >> ed: at the center for medicare and medicaid services allocating nearly $34 billionont line. we will talk to a key member of the task force coming up >> ed: this is a fox news alert. a key coronavirus model is being revised now projecting fewer deaths as the cdc issued new guidance on essential workers. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." good morning sandra. >> sandra: good morning to you ada, i'm sandra smith. the numbers are hard to grasp at this point. right now more than 432,000 cases in the united states as the death toll now nears 15,000. meanwhile, the new cdc guidance could be a first step in reopening the country. it focuses on when the essential workers can return to their jobs after having been exposed to the virus. dr. redfield of the cdc explaining how this would all play out. >> we would ask those employers to take the employee's temperature and assess their symptoms before starting them back to work. we would like them to increase air exchange and the buildings and increase the frequency of how they clean common surfaces and it really

we have it for underprivileged americans, the center for medicare and medicaid services have given unprecedentedices to expand services for coronavirus testing and treatment. >> the president stepped in and told her john roberts that the administration is still looking at it. >> shannon: i think you very much. potentially good news comes along tonight, patients who have recovered from the belt with covid-19 are now donating plasma loaded with antibodies which may help current patients who are trying to fight the disease themselves. >> today we are undertaking a very exciting procedure where we have a recovered positive covid-19 donor. he will be donating plasma to be transfused into outpatient and are i see you covid-19 positive >> let's talk about this development and others may help. senator and dr. bill cassidy of louisiana. good to have both of you with us us. >> hey shannon, thanks for having us. >> shannon: it while we wait for a vaccine, which is at least 12-18 months away, let's talk about the other things we could be doing now, essentially those who have recovered and have the antibodie

joining us now is the former acting administrator for the center for medicare and medicaid services, andy slavitt. always good to see you. these numbers are probably a lot higher than we're even reporting, because the tracking of this has been inconsistent and not all of these patients have been able to get tested for covid. there are a lot of nursing home patients who have died, who they believe were positive, but never got that test. >> right. well, thanks for calling attention to this and for all of us who have loved ones in nursing homes, this is incredibly important. you think about, who's in nursing homes today, we've got about 1.5 million people in nursing homes around the country. these are people that were born right around and after the depression. many of them are veterans of foreign wars. they were part of the people that built this country. and we are -- we owe them a -- to their last day, a debt in this country. and in 2017, to great fan fair, i might add, the trump administration decided that they were -- announced that they were going to not enforce the regulations th

rep says we have been vigilant in adapting practices and protocols from the centers for disease control, centers for medicare and medicaid services, and city guidance. canyon springs caters to residents needing care after hospitalization, as well as those with dementia or alzheimer's. >> i think there is tremendous concern among the medical profession and politicians that the next run will be nursing homes and prisons in other areas where people are confined and can't leave. >> canyon spring officials say stricter protocols are in place, among them were stringent visitor restrictions, screening of staffs and more frequent monitoring of physicians.>> this is essentially a war, and it's a matter of triaging every patient and the use of your facility and equipment to put to the best use.>> dr. mark schwartz says there's signs that the infection rate in the bay area starting to slow because of things like people staying inside, social distancing and sanitizing hands. as for canyon spring, they do not answer the question if they considered closing due to the short term or what families should do if they cannot ge

the centers for medicare and medicaid which oversee these nursing homes now working with the cdc to increaseheir reporting. how that will happen, what numbers we can expect still unclear. gayle, meanwhile, we are going to continue calling those states, state by state. >> thank you for that, jonathan. we've got to figure out a way to do this better. thank you so much. >>> ahead -- pregnant women who are testing positive for the coronavirus but showing no symptoms. the potential risks that mothers and their newborn children are now facing. hi, it's jan from toyota. we know how important it is >> announcer: this national weather report sponsored by toyota. so toyota is here to help. to ensure your toyota is in top condition, many toyota service centers are open to serve you- with certified technicians and genuine toyota parts. and many even offer online service scheduling- and no-contact vehicle drop-off. we're here for you. contact your local toyota dealer to see how they can help. toyota to["under pressure" by queen ♪ pressure pushing down on me ♪ pressing down on you, no man ask for ♪ ♪ it's

give an infected patients thcare they need and allows hospitals to provide services off site centers for medicare and medicaid services administrator seema vema says the agency is chging the rules to pay for patient's treatment outside of hospitals and clinics fema isalready helping expand hospital space in states across thcountry. us as this initiative adds to the work they have done and allows re involvement the local level we want to do is empower ocal communities to start thinking out this d already have in their hat they community the sienna swimmers will allow hospitals to transfer an infected patients to these sites making room for those testing positi for the coronavirus as far as filling these new spaces with supplies. berman says they want tomake su alth care workers have the tools they need to save lives team has t a very special for some people that are working to fid supplies and then we've also se a great response from the private sector in the hearing every day about e're companies that are stepping forward to produce ventilators we heard that from ge from us as new efrts are being

give an infecte patien the care they need and allows hospitals to provideservices off site centers for medicare and medicaid services administrator seema verma says the agency is changing the rules to pay for patient's treatmnt outse of hospitals d clinics fema is already helping expand hpital space in states across the country. us as this initiative adds to the work th have done and allows more involvement on the local level we want to do is empower lol communities to start thinking about this and to use the resources that they already have in their community the sienna swimmers will allow hospitals transfer an infected patients tothese sites making room for coronavirus as far as filling ese new spaces with supplies. berman says they want to make sure health care workers have thtools they need to save lis team has set a very specal for some people that are working to find supplies and then we've also seen a great response from the pvate sector the united states. i think we're hearing ery day about companies that are stepping forward toproduc ventilators we heard that om ge from us as new effor

give an infected patients the care they need and allows hospitals to provide servicesff site centers for medicare and medicaid services administrator seema verma says the agency is changing the rules to pay for patient's treatment outside of hospitals and clinics fema is already helping expand hospital space in states across the country. us as this initiative adds to the work they have done and allows more involvement on the local level we want to do is empower local communities to start thinking about this and to use the resources that they already have in their community the sienna swimmers will allow hospitals to transfer an infected patients to these sites making room for those testing positive for the coronavirus as far as filling these new spaces with supplies. berman says they want to make sure health care workers have the tools ey need to save lives team has set a very special for some people that are working to find supplies and then we've also seen a great response from the private sector in the united states. i think we're hearing every day about companies that are stepping forward to

homes amid the s for coronavirus pandemic care centers will now be required families and to the cdc, whenever they have a coronavirus case. that's according to the centers for medicare and medicaid rvices, the government will also be payinglaps to go to nursing homes to test residents and care workers. the new reirement will support the cdc's efforts to monit the spread of coronavirus inuing homes and other susceptib communies. a state report shows more than 200 calornia, nursing homes have at least one positive case of covid 1934 of those are here counties. vocates for 7 nursing home reform y the social distancing is not somethg people in nursing homes can . and that lack of attentn for residents and care workers has allowed the virus to spread rapidly and the present of the nation's longest are largest long-term care union says that because of low wages. workers have been forced to jump between 2 or 3 different nursing homes to make ends meet. >>we need to make sure we are investing in the workforcen these facilities to make sure we never have th type of. problem the kids there n't even appropriate handwaing taking place to facilitate much less the use of appropri

he was actsing administrator for the centers for medicare and medicaid services during the obama administrationank you for being with us. we're in the middle of a pandemic. dr. bright was just moved off. how does that affect us? >> we like to talk about people like tom brady, i think he needs to understand what he just did is the equivalent of pulling tom brady off the football field in the fourth quarter of an elimination game when you're down by two touchdowns. dr. bright has worked his entire career for these moments. he has been studying how to combat and respond to infectious diseases. he's taken offer the flu vaccine and led the agency that we're counting on most now. but to pull him off the field, so to speak, that critical juncture is an enormous loss and something we should be concerned about. these are the kind of people that are going to have to help us solve very hard problems and i just can't understand why he's not on the field right now. >> what are the questions you have to ask the president if you were able ask them? >> well, you know, i think what i would like to suggest to th

joining me now the former acting administrator for the centers for medicare and medicaid and host of "in the bubble." andy, this dr. bright statement to me is -- it's not shocking because we -- it's not at all surprising in the trump administration but if what he is saying is true, the danger can't be over stated. >> chris, this is a really alarming situation. he hears the analogy i'll give you. this is like the patriots pulling tom brady in the fourth quarter with the team down by six facing elimination. this is a man, dr. bright, who has spent his entire career preparing for this moment. he spent his entire career studying influenza and other infectious diseases and how to build a vaccine for these moments. this is a guy you want on the field right now. so the american public needs to look at this and say, for every possible reason, this man needs to be put back in the game. you saw dr. fauci was quite alarmed at this and unfortunately, this is following the same pattern we've seen with the justice department and that you pointed out we've seen with other public officials if they d

we deal with that politically and with the public as the former acting administrator of the center for medicare and medicaid. andy, do i have you? >> you've got me. >> always have a back up. so, was i wasting my time shivering and sweating when i was just a couple of sprays of fantastic away from getting over this virus? >> i only wish that that was the answer. it would be so much easier if that was, in fact, the case. we could just shoot up some hand sanitizer. but, you know, i think that this idea of clutching at straws one day and then having to reverse yourself the next day, you know, it's not a great strategy. the public is actually more patient than he realizes. there was a poll out this morning that said that 80% of americans actually believe that the right thing to do was staying home. people realize this is a complex problem. i think you've got public officials including your brother, the governor of new york who are more than willing to level with the public and say this is a hard challenge, it's a marathon. but why the president keeps trying to find quick fixes, pulling them out of h

during the white house briefing, the centers for medicare and medicaid service announced new transparency measures to track the virus. one of the policies forces nursing homes to report cases directly to the cdc so the government can start collecting data on the virus in those facilities. a second measure calls for nursing homes to inform residents and their families of covid-19 cases in their facilities. the move comes after several outbreaks in bay area nursing homes. we have reported with the reported cases. you can find that on our website, nbcbayarea.com. >>> take a live look at capitol hill right now, where a deal to help small business own coerce be announced in a matter of hours. treasury secretary steve mnuchin says the white house and congress are close to a deal that would provide an additional $300 billion to small businesses. another 50 billion would go to disaster loans. the original loan program worth $350 billion ran out of money last thursday, just two weeks after it was launched. the new plan has strong bipartisan support. >> we're continuing to negotiate with the democr

bring in someone who knows that well from his time as acting administrator for his time in the centers for medicarend medicaid. mr. andy slavitt. >> hey, chris. >> one of the best opportunities i can afford on this show. tell me i'm wrong. yes, we're ramping up testing. yes, they're at 150,000 a day. but scale, brother, scale is not incremental if you need to hit a certain benchmark for it to be effective, and we're nowhere near it. so is progress enough for a pat on the back? >> look, i think that what the president would be smarter to do is to hit a number that he can stick to or beat. i think that's not in his nature, but if he said, look, by the end of june we're going to have 3 million tests -- and i know it's not enough, but by july we're going to have 4 and then, you know, people will understand -- they may not like it, but to continue to say that everybody has all the tests that they need when everyone knows it's not their reality, it erodes trust. and so what he needs to do now is build trust. because the reality on the ground isn't changing. mayors from augusta to new york city to all ove

whenever they have coronavirus cases that's according to the centers for medicare and medicaid services they also note the government will be paying laps to go to nursing homes to test people. the new requirement will support the cdc's efforts to have surveillance and contact tracing around the country in the communities that show the spread of the coronavirus starting in nursing homes. >>alameda county is one of the hardest hit counties when it comes to the current coronavirus pandemic those living in the county will soon have to abide by new mask requirements. earlier today we heard from the public health officer doctor eric upon who says people should not be wearing certain and 95 masks went out in public. >>some of these and 95 respirators that we use and the health care setting have these valves. i'm on the outside and we don't want those to be won in the public because these allow for. officer what we just talked to a bailout and the person wearing them to expel drop words so while on one hand, i'm more comfortable than the traditional and 95 respirators these are not good to wear

and president trump, the head of the centers for medicare and medicaid say hospitals in hard hit areas the priority as well as rural areas and parts of the country that treat poorer patients as they distribute the rest of that aid. >> then you better keep covering this to make sure that happens. josh letterman, thank you so much. >>> i want to move on and talk about testing because priority labs say the demand for coronavirus testing is down, and now they can begin testing more patients with less serious symptoms. but there's a very big problem. the labs still do not have the capacity for mass testing with asymptomatic members of the general public. challenges to increase the capacity still include very basic things like shortages of testing swabs and other basic supplies. joining us to dig in, dr. vin gupta with the university of washington medical center. he's also a global health policy expert. doctor help me with this disconnect. how can labs say testing demand is down when you and i both know there are thousands of people out there desperate to get tests? >> stephanie, first of al

don't go to the centers for medicare and medicaid services which are responsible for overseeing long-term care facilities in this country. they're just not doing it. they're not working on this at all. so it's find your local paper. browse around. see what you can figure out in terms of the numbers. see what you can figure out in terms of who might need help. that's all we've got. but like i said, this is a bad -- this has been a particularly bad day in terms of the american coronavirus epidemic. i will tell you in terms of the bad political response here, while what i was just describing is unfolding in western pennsylvania today, and the local paper there is demanding answers from the trump administration and not getting them, well, that's happening in pennsylvania today, today in the state capital in pennsylvania republican state legislators were angling to try to overturn the stay-at-home order put in place in pennsylvania by democratic governor tom wolf. because sure, seems like things are going great in pennsylvania. did i mention that they are re-freezing the local ice arena, becau