2 Congressmen Say Local Hospitals Were Short-Changed In Coronavirus Relief Aid
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Two local congressmen say this area is being short-changed in coronavirus relief aid because of poor funding formulas by the U.S. Department of Health and Services.
Democrat Mike Doyle and Republican Guy Reschenthaler told KDKA's Jon Delano that local hospitals are not getting the support they need.
"The formula that they use just took into account traditional Medicare A and B. It didn't consider Medicare Advantage programs, children's hospitals. Pennsylvania doesn't have public hospitals. And the way this formula was put together, it disadvantages states like us," Doyle said.
"We were disadvantaged when it came to this last allotment of money," Reschenthaler said. "(The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) knows this, and they said they're going to fix that on the next distribution of funds."
Doyle said some hospitals in other states were reimbursed at $300,000 per coronavirus patient, while Pennsylvania hospitals were reimbursed at $50,000 per patient.
Both congressmen said they expect this to be corrected in the next round of funding.
The full interview with Reschenthaler can be found here.