The latest stimulus package passed the Senate on Tuesday, but hospitals are still awaiting $70 million allocated to them in the last stimulus package, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Both parties are have questions for the Department of Health and Human Services about why funds are being held up and why information hasn't been forthcoming about how money will be distributed to hospitals and providers.
The new bill more than doubles the amount for hospitals. But that is little comfort for hospitals, who had been told by HHS they would be getting the money last week.
"We approved the $100 billion and only $30 billion has gone out," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, told the Journal, which quoted two people who said none of the remaining $70 billion is expected to be paid this week.
That money was promised to hospitals for treating uninsured coronavirus patients. Those on the frontlines are also straining to buy hard-to-find, and up-priced, personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns. While rural hospitals that have not seen the influx of COVID-19 patients have suffered their own issues with canceled elective surgeries, which help pay their costs.
"Our members are bleeding money right now," Tom Nickels, executive vice president at the American Hospital Association, told the Journal.
The situation is similar for dentist offices, which have stopped elective procedures. None have seen any of the money promised under the first wave of the stimulus.
A spokesman for HHS Secretary Alex Azar told the paper that the office is working to fairly, transparently and quickly distribute the funds.
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