This bill provides FY2016 emergency supplemental appropriations to the Departments of State and Health and Human Services (HHS) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Zika virus and other infectious diseases.
The bill specifies permissible uses for the funds and designates the funds as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits.
The bill provides appropriations to HHS for:
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit Project BioShield to be used to support the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any infectious disease that may pose a threat to the public health. (Under current law, Project BioShield supports only countermeasures against specific chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorist threats.)
The bill temporarily increases from 55% to 65% the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage in the territories (Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands).
The bill provides appropriations to the Department of State and Other International Programs for:
the Administration of Foreign Affairs, Global Health Programs, International Security Assistance, Multilateral Assistance, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Unobligated balances of specified funds provided for the Ebola virus may be used to respond to the Zika virus and other infectious diseases.
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