AHA, AMA and ANA urge Congress to provide at least $100B for providers in next COVID-19 relief package

July 22, 2020

The Honorable Mitch McConnell                                                    The Honorable Charles E. Schumer
Majority Leader                                                                               Democratic Leader   
U.S. Senate                                                                                    U.S. Senate                                
U.S. Capitol  Building, S230                                                           U.S. Capitol Building, S221
Washington, DC 20510                                                                  Washington, DC 20510

Dear Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer:

America’s front line health care personnel continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic as
it continues to spike in numerous states including Texas, Florida, California and
Arizona. The number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase across the country at
rates exceeding those during the Spring of 2020, and we are concerned additional
COVID-19 spikes in other states in the near future will continue to stress the entire
health care system.

Physicians, nurses, hospitals and health systems all across the country are incurring
expenses due to sourcing and purchasing additional and potentially more expensive
supplies and equipment, when available; standing up emergency operations centers;
providing higher staffing levels and backfilling when necessary; providing housing and
care for patients who do not require hospitalization but do not have housing in order to
prevent spread of COVID-19; and construction or retrofitting facilities.

Front line health care providers are experiencing significant financial losses due to the
decrease of inpatient and outpatient services. In some communities where COVID-19 is
spiking, hospitals again have stopped providing non-essential surgeries to ensure there
is increased capacity for COVID-19 patients, resulting in additional significant financial
loss. For outpatient providers, there continues to be decreased demand for services,
and those offices and facilities that are open are scheduling fewer patients due to social
distancing precautions while incurring higher expenses for scarce personal protective
equipment and other supplies. This is causing severe financial stress on physicians,
nurses, hospitals and health systems.

The entire nation is counting on hospitals and health systems, physicians and nurses to
remain strong and resilient as our country battles this pandemic. We are asking for
Congress to allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an
additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to
front line health care personnel and providers, including nurses, doctors, 
hospitals and health systems, to continue to respond to this pandemic. We ask that
Congress direct the Department of Health and Human Services to infuse these
funds as soon as possible so that health care providers can continue to provide care
to their patients and communities.

We thank you for your ongoing leadership as we battle COVID-19 together.
Sincerely,

/s/                                                            /s/                                                           /s/
Richard J. Pollack                      James L. Madara                                      Loressa Cole
President and CEO                    CEO and Executive Vice President          Enterprise CEO
AHA                                            AMA                                                          ANA