Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, many of the nation’s children’s hospitals have been forced to halt critical elective procedures and now require additional federal funds to continue meeting increased needs, according to U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and a bipartisan contingent of her colleagues.
“We are very concerned that a disproportionately low amount of this funding [from the Provider Relief Fund] has been distributed to children’s hospitals,” wrote Sen. Blackburn and several senators in a June 26 letter sent to U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar. “We respectfully request that HHS move to quickly provide additional funding for children’s hospitals.”
While COVID-19 has not affected nearly the number of children as adults, the lawmakers pointed out that there are reasons to consider this additional funding.
“Despite differences in children and adults, children’s hospitals have been impacted financially with significant loss of revenue,” they wrote. “Many children’s hospitals have had to resort to furloughs and lay-offs at a time when they are also preparing for possible increases in COVID-19 patients or more complex cases as a result of deferred care.”
Sen. Blackburn and her colleagues also wrote that children’s hospitals have had to increase expenditures in anticipation of a possible surge in novel coronavirus patients, including investments in personal protective equipment to keep patients and staff safe.
Additionally, according to their letter, caring for children is not the same as adults, making children’s hospitals unique institutions, many of which serve low-income families.
“Care for children requires highly specialized expert knowledge about health and disease at all stages of child development,” wrote Sen. Blackburn and her colleagues. “Further, children’s hospitals provide these services to a large Medicaid population – more than half of children’s hospital patients are covered by the program.”
Among the members who joined Sen. Blackburn in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Rob Portman (R-OH), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).