Saratoga, NY – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is leading a bipartisan letter to House Leadership with Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-16) urging them to include loan forgiveness for the Medicare accelerated/advance payment program in the phase 4 stimulus package. The Medicare accelerated/advance payment program enables hospitals to access Medicare payments upfront to help them deal with the surge of coronavirus patients. However, due to the current financial strain many hospitals are facing, they are unable to pay back the loans under the timetable envisioned in the CARES Act. The letter, signed by most members of the New York Congressional delegation, outlines the needs of New York State hospitals and urges leadership to provide additional relief for New York hospitals by providing loan forgiveness in the Medicare accelerated/advanced payment program.
“Our North Country hospitals are facing serious financial hardship as they continue to address this public health crisis,” Congresswoman Stefanik. “I am in constant contact with our hospital CEO’s, many of whom have had to take funding advances and loans, delay accounts payables, furlough thousands of staff and postpone much-needed capital projects in order to survive financially. It is absolutely critical that we continue to support our hospitals at the federal level, especially those in New York who have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. I will continue to lead this federal effort to bring much needed relief to our hospitals.”
Find a copy of the letter here.
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