• Last Friday we provided an update on the occupancy adjustment rate cuts that OPWDD is proposing. We want to clarify that the cut being proposed is a 50% reduction in the rate of both retainer days and therapeutic leave days. In the update last week we incorrectly interpreted it as a reduction in the number of days not the rate. The retainer days will remain at 14 and therapeutic leave days at 96. 

• Late this afternoon, the Senate, through a unanimous consent vote, passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020. The bill, by necessity, is identical to that which passed the House last week.  The key provisions of the law, which will be effective upon the signing by the President, are as follows: 

• Any portion of the PPP loan that is not forgiven would have a five-year term instead of the current two-year term. Would apply only to PPP loans received after the date of enactment of this Bill, however, borrowers and lenders with existing PPP loans can modify the terms of those loans to correspond to the terms of the Bill.

• Program term would be extended to December 31, 2020 from June 30, 2020.

• Covered period would be extended from the current eight weeks to earlier of 24 weeks from date proceeds deposited or December 31, 2020. Borrowers with existing loans could elect to retain the existing 8 weeks.

• Would change the existing 75% requirement for minimum spend on payroll costs down to 60%. 

• The new bill adds another new safe harbor provision to remove the FTE reduction in forgiveness requirement.

• Would remove any restriction on a borrow to defer payment of employer payroll taxes. Currently, can only defer until borrower receives forgiveness of PPP loan.

• A special thank you to our partners BKD CPA’s and Advisors for their guidance on this bill. Additional provisions of the bill are described by BKD here.

• Today OPWDD advised that they believe the Com Hab-R units for each agency and their July-December base costs to be used in the phase 2 retainer day program should be available on the Office of the Pool Administrator website by close of business tomorrow. A link to that website can be found here.

• 2,841 total infections to date
• 2,332 of those infections can be attributed to individuals residing in OPWDD certified residential settings

• 423 Fatalities
• 90% of deaths are located in the downstate region (NYC, LI, Rockland, Putnam, Westchester, Orange, Nassau, Suffolk)
• 83% of deaths are attributed to individuals that are 50 or older 
• 61% of deaths are men 
• 80% of those who have passed away also had one or more comorbidities (i.e. hypertension, diabetes, dementia, cancer, etc…)

• 3,218 staff infections to date
• 2,735 of which can be attributed to those working in OPWDD certified residential settings

• Additionally, OPWDD reported that the peak impact to individuals in the OPWDD system was the week of March 28th with 546 new confirmed cases that week. 

• Similarly, the number of hospitalizations peaked the same week with a total of 333 cases. 

• The peak day for fatalities was April 4th with 104.