Hospital groups ask Congress for additional help as pandemic continues

The AHA and seven other national hospital organizations today urged congressional leaders to act quickly to ensure hospitals and health systems have the additional resources they need to continue to care for their communities and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, including additional relief from Medicare sequester cuts in 2022. Congress is currently working to craft an omnibus appropriations package that could also provide support for hospitals.

“The financial pressures hospitals and health systems faced at the beginning of the public health emergency continue, with, for example, ongoing delays in non-emergent procedures, in addition to increased expenses for supplies, medicine, testing and protective equipment,” the groups wrote. The letter also references hospital and health system staffing challenges, including workforce shortages and the increase in labor costs since the beginning of the pandemic.