Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, joined United States Senator Elizabeth Warren and the entire Massachusetts Congressional Delegation in urging Congressional Leadership to provide additional funding for Massachusetts hospitals in the next coronavirus relief package as they continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic.

Text of Letter (PDF)

"In Massachusetts, our hospitals continue to be on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, treating patients, protecting their staff, and ensuring that the pandemic does not disrupt other essential care," the lawmakers wrote. "In return, they continue to need our support. The recently released proposal from Senate Republicans, which includes a mere $25 billion in additional funding for the Provider Relief Fund, is insufficient."

As hospitals continue to play an outsized role in the COVID-19 pandemic, they have suffered a serious financial toll. Hospitals continue to face higher operating costs as they take precautions to protect their patients and staff from infection, and while most hospitals have resumed preventative and elective procedures, the suspension of these procedures earlier this year cost hospitals millions of dollars per day, creating losses that will take years to recoup. The delegation called for an additional $100 billion for the Provider Relief Fund  to alleviate this financial pressure and ensure that hospitals can continue to provide care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Hospitals and their staff have made heroic efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, including by putting themselves at risk of infection in order to care for their patients," the lawmakers continue. "We owe it to them, and to our constituents who rely on these health care providers for exceptional medical care, to support their ongoing financial needs."

McGovern has pushed the Trump Administration to respond to the coronavirus crisis with the scale, scope, and urgency necessary to protect the health, safety, and economic welfare of the American people. He has helped introduce emergency legislation to prevent families from going hungry, demanded an end to the Trump Administration's attempts to cut food assistance, and called on Congress to prioritize nutrition assistance programs. He has secured personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers in Massachusetts, and helped secure $4.9 million dollars for COVID-19 relief in Central and Western Massachusetts. He successfully passed legislation creating a new investigative panel to make sure hard-earned taxpayer dollars are spent on the small businesses and workers who need help because of the coronavirus, and he has come up with a plan to ensure that Congress can keep legislating on behalf of the American people during this crisis.