America’s Essential Hospitals sent a March 27 letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to target critical dollars to essential hospitals on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, the letter focuses on funds made available by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed March 27. The CARES Act includes $100 billion, available until expended, for a Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to reimburse eligible providers for health care–related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19.
The association calls on HHS to design a mechanism to distribute the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, and any other funds to be dispersed at the agency’s discretion, to hospitals:
- with limited cash on hand and serving vulnerable communities and complex patients;
- severely impacted by COVID-19 patients;
- reducing other functions to prepare for and focus on COVID-19 patients; and
- reducing services to prepare for COVID-19 patients.
Visit the America’s Essential Hospitals coronavirus resource page for more information about the outbreak.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
