Hospitals Urge Lawmakers to Provide Additional Resources for Ongoing Pandemic
- February 11, 2022
The American Hospital Association (AHA) and seven other national health care organizations are asking Congress to ensure hospitals and health systems have the resources they need to provide care as hospitals continue to experience financial strain from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including skyrocketing labor costs.
In a February 8 letter to congressional leaders, the groups told lawmakers that shortages of nurses and many other workers have forced hospitals to rely on temporary contract staff to ensure facilities can provide adequate patient care.
“Unfortunately, some travel nurse staffing agencies seem to be exploiting these shortages by inflating prices beyond reasonably competitive levels—two or three or more times pre-pandemic rates—and reportedly retaining high profit margins for themselves,” the groups said. “These increased rates are unsustainable and have contributed to the dramatic increase in hospitals’ labor costs since the beginning of the pandemic,” the letter said.
In January, more than 200 lawmakers urged the administration to investigate reports of price-gouging by nurse staffing agencies.
In addition to urging lawmakers to provide more resources to support hospitals, the groups also called for extending the moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts in 2022. Congress previously suspended the cuts until April 1 and then reduced them from 2% to 1% through June 30.