AHA Letter to POTUS on Additional Financial Support for Hospitals and Health Systems

April 18, 2020

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinical partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, two million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the American Hospital Association (AHA) thanks you for your comments yesterday at the White House Coronavirus Task Force Press briefing recognizing the need for providing additional funding for hospitals and health systems to address COVID-19.

The AHA appreciates the Administration’s efforts to provide funding to America’s hospitals and health systems to support nurses, doctors and staff on the front lines. Many hospitals have already benefitted from the Medicare Accelerated Payment Program and we urge additional funding to be distributed from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund.

As your Administration continues discussions with Congress on the next relief package, we urge you to prioritize additional support to ensure hospitals and health systems continue to have what they need to protect their patients, communities and caregivers. Many hospitals are in dire circumstances as they face the biggest financial crisis in history. While our members continue to do everything they can to address COVID-19 cases, quickly making substantial additional funds available would help them continue to put the health and safety of patients and personnel first, and in many cases, may actually ensure they are able to keep their doors open.

We appreciate the ongoing work of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. We look forward to continuing to work with you during this critical time to protect the health of our nation.

Sincerely,

/s/