Reports

The United States Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge proposed efforts by Eli Lilly and Company, AbCellera Biologics, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Genentech, and GlaxoSmithKline (together, the Requesting Parties) to share information about manufacturing facilities and other information that could enable them to expedite the production of monoclonal antibody treatments that are determined to be safe and effective to treat COVID-19.

BOSTON – A Malden man was charged today with identity fraud and with submitting fraudulent applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The federal PUA program provides unemployment-related benefits to individuals who have been impacted by COVID-19.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Nevada’s COVID-19 Task Force, formed by U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich and Attorney General Aaron D. Ford, has recently received reports suggesting that personal identifying information of some present and past Nevada residents is being used to file fraudulent applications for unemployment benefits.

 This work will provide details of the effectiveness of CMS controls over its Accelerated and Advance Payment Program (AAP) payments to providers and payment recovery. We will obtain data and meet with program officials to understand CMS's eligibility determination process for AAP payments and the steps CMS will have taken to recover such funds in compliance with the CARES Act and other Federal requirements. The objectives of our work will be to determine whether CMS made AAP payments to eligible providers and implemented controls to recover the AAP payments in compliance with the CARES Act and other Federal requirements. We will also evaluate a select group of providers to determine whether they were eligible for AAP payments, and their efforts to repay CMS in compliance with the CARES Act and other Federal requirements.

As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Medicaid provider enrollment through State Medicaid agencies has been expedited under the SSA §1135 Authority to Waive Requirements during National Emergencies. Rapid loosening of established provider screening and background check requirements may limit a State's ability to identify providers who are not eligible to participate in Medicaid. Our objective is to determine whether the State agency and providers complied with Federal and State requirements for newly enrolled providers under the national emergency declaration and if the State established tracking controls for these providers as well as giving providers adequate guidance on waived enrollment requirements.

As information on rates of infection and outcomes for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic emerges, numerous reports document racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in rates of adverse outcomes from COVID-19, including death. This study will review the locations of hospitals that received Provider Relief Funds, with particular attention to hospitals located in communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities that were disproportionately impacted by adverse COVID-19 outcomes (i.e., hospitalization or death).

With emerging information on rates of infection and outcomes for the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), numerous reports document a disproportionate burden of infection and deaths among communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities. This study will examine data that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects and maintains that can be used to assess racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 cases and outcomes, as well as how CDC uses those data as part of its activities to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We will also examine CDC's lessons learned about how to best protect communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in future public health emergencies. 

A Little Rock woman was arrested this afternoon based on allegations she fraudulently obtained nearly $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans intended to provide relief for small businesses affected by COVID-19.

A resident of the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles was ordered held without bond this afternoon after being arrested on federal charges alleging he fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, some of which he used on gambling excursions to Las Vegas and transferred to his stock trading accounts.