Loeffler Urges CMS to Distribute Approved Funding for Safety Net Hospitals
Asks Administration to Prioritize CARES Funding for Hospitals Caring for the Sickest, Lowest-Income, Costliest Patients
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) joined her colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to prioritize distributing funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Stability (CARES) Act to hospitals that serve a high proportion of Medicaid and low-income patients.
A group of sixteen senators, including Loeffler, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma to ensure these frontline hospitals are receiving funding Congress specifically provided to them in the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. HHS announced today they will distribute approximately $15 billion to eligible Medicaid providers who have not yet received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund General Allocation and $10 billion to safety net hospitals.
“We write to you today to ask that you consider the economic impact on hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of Medicaid and low-income patients as you distribute future congressionally appropriated COVID-19 related funding…,” the senators write. “[W]e remain concerned that, to date, the allocations have not sufficiently targeted providers tasked with caring for vulnerable populations. As such, as you distribute the remaining funding in the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, we respectfully request you consider a separate, targeted distribution of funding for health providers who make up the health care safety net in our states…”
“On a pre-pandemic basis, these providers face high-uncompensated care costs and bring in significantly lower revenue than other hospitals. COVID-19 has severely exacerbated these disparities. We are concerned about the future financially viability of our hospitals that help care for the sickest, lowest-income, and costliest patients. These hospitals stand at the frontlines of our health care system for many of our disadvantaged communities and operate on razor thin margins under the best of circumstances.”
Loeffler joined Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in sending the letter. The full letter is available here.