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Amazon Considers Introduction of Veterinary Telehealth Services

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Amazon is considering the introduction of veterinary telehealth services, according to CNBC, following in the wake of Walmart, which made them available earlier this year to its Walmart+ subscribers. Sources familiar with the matter said Amazon could turn to Pawp to fuel a potential pet telehealth offering in time for the holiday season. Pawp currently works with Walmart, although its agreement with the retailer is set to expire on November 19th. Dr. Lori Teller, former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association and a professor of telehealth at Texas A&M University, said pet telehealth can be beneficial, but added she has concerns about companies that could be using it to drive product sales.

Read more here

California’s Veterinarian Telehealth Bill Aims to Relieve Limited Access to Vet Care

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California is addressing limited access to veterinary care by passing Assembly Bill 1399, which empowers licensed veterinarians in the state to establish a veterinarian-client/patient relationship through video technology.  Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law in October, and it will go into effect on January 1, 2024. At the moment, California restricts veterinarians from effectively using telehealth and can bar them from giving simple advice and direction to pet owners through telemedicine unless the owners bring their animals into the veterinary hospital, according to a press release from the San Francisco SPCA. The bill comes amid a massive shortage of veterinarians across the U.S. that has made it hard for pet owners to get basic care because the number of practicing vets cannot meet the demand of patients in need of care.

Read more here

Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or Act), which includes cash payments to taxpayers, expanded unemployment insurance, increased funding for healthcare providers, small business loans, and tax relief to businesses. The Act is the third bill from Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business tax provisions include an employee retention credit, deferral of payroll tax payments, temporary reinstatement of the net operating loss (NOL) carryback, increased limits for business interest deductions, and a technical correction to the qualified improvement property provision contained in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

For most of us, the legislation is complicated and decisions have serious consequences.  Now is the time to work with a CPA that understands the needs and nuances of animal hospitals and veterinary medicine practices.  Each of our Veterinary Medicine CPA members has been following this legislation and offers customized veterinary care guidance. While they are busy near the end of tax season, each of our members will consider accepting more veterinarians.

If you want professional guidance from a Veterinary CPA Firm, complete our short form and you will be put in touch with a CPA to help.  Banks are not accepting applications for this relief program yet so contact us now.

Veterinary Ventilators – Shipped to Hospitals – Combat COVID-19

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The nation’s hospitals, facing dire shortages of lifesaving ventilators as the coronavirus outbreak continues, are finding help from an unlikely source: animal doctors and veterinarians.

The country’s largest veterinary schools, animal hospitals and even zoos are offering up ventilators to hospitals that are scrambling to care for a growing number of critically ill coronavirus patients. Similar efforts elsewhere could produce hundreds of machines and save countless lives.

Ventilators used on animals are identical to machines at hospitals, according to several animal doctors and hospital officials. Dogs and cats with pneumonia and other respiratory issues, not unlike their human counter parts, benefit immensely from the breathing machines, which quickly can be repurposed.

 

Source: This article was provided by ABC News.  See pictures of how ventilators are used on dogs, orangutans, tortoise, and jaguars.

 

Coronavirus Loan Assistance – Veterinary Practices – Pet Hospitals

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The VET CPA Association, and it’s Veterinary CPA member firms, have launched a Small Business Loan Assistance service to support the following types of veterinary practices:

  • Veterinary Clinics
  • Pet Hospitals – Animal Hospitals
  • Mixed Animal Veterinary Practices
  • Specialty Veterinary Practices

This emergency loan assistance program is designed to provide veterinary practices with sound financial guidance in this emergency situation navigating federal, state and city specific programs, grants as well as veterinary industry specific options.

To learn more, visit the “request a veterinary cpa” page and complete the form.  We will then put your in touch with a CPA in your area.

$2T Relief Program – COVID-19 – Coronavirus

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A major deal was struck by the White house and Senate leaders on March 25 for a $2 trillion package that will provide relief to the economy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It is the biggest relief package in American history.

Senator Mitch McConnell called it as “a wartime level of investment into our nation” as the United States continues to see a rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

The package will provide much needed financial support to businesses forced to shut down and relief to American families and hospitals turned upside-down from the fast spreading disease and ensuing economic crisis.

Here are some of the key factors that were being negotiated in the stimulus package:

  • $250 billion set aside for direct payments to individuals and families
  • $350 billion in small business loans
  • $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits
  • $500 billion in loans for distressed companies
  • Individuals who earn $75,000 in adjusted gross income or less would get direct payments of $1,200 each
  • Married couples earning up to $150,000 receiving $2,400 — and an additional $500 per each child
  • Payment would scale down by income, phasing out entirely at $99,000 for singles and $198,000 for couples without children

Some other areas discussed by negotiators were providing four months of unemployment benefits, offered to self-employed workers as well. In addition, the bill would ensure the Small Business Administration could serve as a guarantor for loans of up to $10 billion for small businesses to make sure they can maintain their payrolls and pay off their debts.

The bill would provide $130 billion in funding to hospitals especially hard hit and $150 billion for state and local governments struggling due to response to battle coronavirus.