Letter to the Hon. Alex Azar, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Congressman Steven Horsford Sends Letter to Trump Administration to Access Stimulus Funds for Labor Health Plans

Letter

Dear Secretary Azar:

Thank you for your agency's attention to the evolving needs of patients and families through the
coronavirus pandemic. The magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic has called for an
unprecedented response. It was in this view that Congress allocated $100 billion to support the
hospitals and health systems responding to disease outbreaks across the country. We appreciate
your commitment to the speedy disbursement of these funds to frontline providers.

As you develop distribution rules and methodologies for the Public Health and Social Services
Emergency Fund resources, we strongly urge you to make explicit the eligibility of health care
clinics provided by any self-funded group health plan sponsored by a multiemployer trust fund to
apply for these funds.

More than 150,000 workers and their families rely on six of these employer-funded clinics for
primary care services across Las Vegas alone. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these clinics
have provided access to critical screening services that have helped public health agencies to
manage outbreaks in Southern Nevada. It is essential that they be able to continue this important
role in alleviating stress on community health centers and urgent care centers whose capacities
have been stretched by the pandemic.

This support for primary care providers responding to the COVID-19 crisis is especially critical
given Nevada's extreme health workforce shortage. Our state ranks 47th nationwide for active
physicians and 48th for active primary care doctors per 100,000 residents. These shortages
extend to other types of providers as well -- Nevada ranks 42nd among other states for Physician
Assistants (PAs) with 25 PAs per 100,000 residents; just 42 Advanced Practice Registered
Nurses (APRNs) per 100,000 residents are registered in the state.

As you explore ways to stretch the capacity of our nation's health system to respond to this
pandemic, we encourage you to ensure that employer-based providers caring for their workers
have the support they need to continue doing so.

We appreciate your attention to this request, and your agency's partnership in our efforts to keep
working families safe and healthy amidst this public health crisis.

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