June 30, 2020

KENNEDY TO AZAR: RELEASE $72.6 BILLION IN HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FUNDS NOW

Local recovery efforts hampered by Administration’s failure to provide support

Washington, D.C. – Three months after Congress created a program providing an initial $100 billion in relief for health care providers, Congressman Joe Kennedy III today demanded that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar immediately release the remaining funds, which may be as much as $72.6 billion, to strengthen our health care system. After hearing from health care leaders in Massachusetts, Kennedy cited furloughs and a reduction of hours in the health care industry as evidence that the release of the funds cannot be delayed any longer.

“Now is not the time to be shortchanging health care providers or the patients who rely on them,” said Congressman Kennedy. “Day after day, this Administration fails to comprehend the scale of devastation caused by COVID-19 and the urgency that this moment demands. These funds need to be distributed today so that our communities remain healthy and safe.”

“Community health centers in Massachusetts and across the country are working tirelessly to provide COVID testing, tracing, and treatment to more than 30 million patients,” said James W. Hunt, Jr., president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. “While health centers are exactly the type of care model the Provider Relief Fund was designed to help, the disbursements they have received to date are roughly equal to two percent of their total patient revenues -- woefully insufficient. Support from the Provider Relief Fund is a critical tool for helping health centers mitigate community spread of the virus, prepare for an anticipated second surge, and do what it takes to ensure the health and safety of our communities.”

“The COVID-19 crisis has devastated the financial stability of the Massachusetts healthcare system, and we cannot get fully back on track without additional federal relief. We are grateful for Congressman Kennedy’s urgency on this critical issue and his advocacy to secure timely funding for our providers,” said Steve Walsh, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. “This relief is essential to our hospitals’ ability to weather the storm and continue treating every patient in need of care.”

Signed into law on March 27, 2020, the CARES Act provided $100 billion to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (PHSSEF) to help health care providers as they lost significant amounts of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional $75 billion was provided in the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. Three months after creation of the program, per Health and Human Services website, there is still $72.6 billion that remains undistributed.

To read Kennedy’s letter, please click here.

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