Read: Mass. Medical Society president says it is ‘past time’ for Congress to pass COVID-19 relief
“COVID-19 does not care about political party.”
The president of the Massachusetts Medical Society is urging Congress to pass COVID-19 relief for states as new cases and deaths rise nationwide.
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“It is past time for Congress to act and assure that our patients and all those who need care are supported and given every opportunity to access the vital resources they urgently need to remain healthy during the pandemic,” Dr. David Rosman wrote in a statement Thursday.
Rosman said local responses to the surging cases and rising hospitalizations both in Massachusetts and across the country are “severely hindered” because they haven’t received federal funding to assist them.
States, he stressed, have led the response to the pandemic, setting up testing, contact tracing, food assistance, and other resources to residents impacted by the public health crisis.
“States had to make painful but prudent decisions to close large parts of their economies to curb the spread of the virus,” he wrote. “State and local budgets have been upended as a result and are facing huge deficits that require federal relief. In Massachusetts, a lack of federal funding to stand up COVID-19 response programs and critical services has already caused lasting harm and further delay will hurt all residents, especially our most vulnerable and disproportionately affected patients.”
Rosman noted the federal lawmakers have been debating a second aid package for more than six months “with no action.” Congress passed a $1.8 trillion COVID-19 rescue bill in March, but in the months since leaders and President Donald Trump’s administration have fought over what another round of relief should include.
According to the Associated Press, action is unlikely to be taken by the end of the year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are continuing to push relief package proposals, but Trump and Republican lawmakers are focused on the results of the election and refusing to concede to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The number of daily newly confirmed virus cases in the U.S. has surged more than 70 percent in the last two weeks, with a record-breaking average of 127,000 new cases reported each day. Overall, more than 10.5 million Americans have contracted COVID-19, and more than 242,000 people have died from the illness.
“COVID-19 does not care about political party,” Rosman said in his message to lawmakers. “So we must put aside partisan differences and act quickly to protect residents across the country.”
Read his full statement below:
As COVID-19 cases surge in Massachusetts and across the country, states, and localities are increasing their response efforts, but those efforts are severely hindered because states haven’t received the federal funding they so desperately need.
Already, states have led the response to this pandemic. From setting up testing sites to contact tracing programs to food assistance, states and localities have provided their residents with resources to survive this crisis. States had to make painful but prudent decisions to close large parts of their economies to curb the spread of the virus. State and local budgets have been upended as a result and are facing huge deficits that require federal relief. In Massachusetts, a lack of federal funding to stand up COVID-19 response programs and critical services has already caused lasting harm and further delay will hurt all residents, especially our most vulnerable and disproportionately affected patients.
It is past time for Congress to act and assure that our patients and all those who need care are supported and given every opportunity to access the vital resources they urgently need to remain healthy during the pandemic.
We appreciate that Congress acted quickly at the beginning of the pandemic to provide some state and local funding, but the initial round will not sustain us as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. Congress has been debating a subsequent COVID-19 relief package for over six months with no action. COVID-19 does not care about political party. So we must put aside partisan differences and act quickly to protect residents across the country.
We commend our Massachusetts congressional delegation, whose members have been at the forefront of advocating with their colleagues in Congress for additional state and federal COVID-19 relief. We are proud of their efforts and we look forward to working together with our delegation on behalf of all patients and physicians to pass a COVID-19 relief package this session.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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