The Trump administration has not yet distributed to health providers almost $100 billion of the $175 billion in federal emergency aid granted to them months after Congress approved the funds, Politico has reported.
Congressmen from both parties have complained about the delay, which has decimated health providers at the same time that they are on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
Making matters worse is that the aid has mostly not gone to those that care mainly for the poorest and most vulnerable, and at least 1,900 health center sites nationwide have already closed temporarily, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.
“Congress intended these dollars to go to healthcare providers quickly to combat the pandemic,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, told Politico. “It’s clear that the Trump administration’s distribution of this aid has been poorly targeted and too slow in coming.”
A source familiar with those discussions said, “Lead Republicans on the committees of jurisdiction have been [frustrated] at just the remarkable nature of the process.”
Despite acknowledging the urgent need for the funds, a Health and Human Services Department spokesperson explained it is attempting to balance “concerns that these distributions be allocated fairly, transparently, and with appropriate oversight into the process” and did not provide any timeline for when that would be happening.
The Trump administration cites, among the difficulties encountered, that much of the holdup is due to state health departments that have been slow to provide data crucial to figuring out which providers should qualify for the next round of funding.
State health agencies, however, strongly dispute this version of events.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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