WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with seven of their Senate colleagues, today expressed concern to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) about the front-line health providers and settings that were excluded from, or inadequately supported through, the $30 billion first round of CARES Act funding. In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, the Senators urged the Department to alter the methodology for the next round of the CARES Act’s total $100 billion funding to better reflect the unique contributions of children’s hospitals, hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of Medicaid and uninsured patients, and rural hospitals, as well as hospitals that serve communities with higher volumes of COVID-19 cases.
“As HHS prepares to allocate the next round of funding appropriated by Congress through the CARES Act, we urge you to prioritize children’s hospitals, hospitals with high rates of Medicaid and uninsured patients, and rural hospitals, all of which are on the front lines of this unprecedented health emergency and were insufficiently supported through the first tranche of grants,” the Senators wrote.
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The Senators expressed concern that the first round of CARES Act funding, which was allocated based upon a health care institution’s Medicare Part A and B claims from 2019, did not properly recognize hospitals facing an outsized burden of COVID-19 cases, including those in geographic hot spots.
In addition to Durbin and Duckworth, the letter was signed by Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
