From the office of Representative Antonio Delgado:
RHINEBECK, NY—Today, U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in a bicameral letter to urgently respond to the needs of nursing home residents and staff in New York and across the country. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are uniquely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 9,600 nursing homes and long-term care (LTC) facilities across the U.S. have reported COVID-19 cases and more than 40,000 residents and workers in LTC settings have died from the virus. The letter sent to HHS and CMS today questions the delay in a comprehensive federal plan to address the needs of residents and staff at these facilities.
“This is inexcusable. Nursing home facilities must have the treatment, the care, and the protective equipment needed to keep these facilities safe. Thousands of upstate New York residents live in these homes and the lack of efficient testing or rulemaking around keeping these facilities safe is outrageous. I joined this urgent plea to the Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicaid and Medicare to get urgently needed answers for the residents and staff members. There is no time to lose. We need funding, we need resources, and we need answers now to save lives,” said Rep. Delgado.
“While the persistent shortage of testing kits and delayed reporting and disclosure of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes continue to obscure the full magnitude of this crisis, recent tragedies have made it painfully clear that our nursing homes are in dire need of additional federal support and guidance. Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable during this public health emergency, but they cannot be protected when their facilities lack testing kits, personal protective equipment (PPE), and sufficient staff,” the federal lawmakers wrote in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma. “Additionally, many nursing homes do not have the resources to implement federal guidance to slow the spread of COVID-19. To avert further tragedies, we strongly urge you to address the dire needs of nursing home residents and staff as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The lawmakers called on the Administration to provide:
- a comprehensive national testing plan that includes providing testing kits for our nation’s nursing homes;
- a strategy to ensure all nursing homes and LTC facilities have adequate personal protection equipment for their residents and staff;
- a plan to address staff shortages and guidance on how nursing homes can use separate staff and facilities for residents with COVID-19;
- greater resources for nursing homes so they can complete accurate and timely federal reports and provide updates to families of nursing home residents.
“We remain gravely concerned about the spread of COVID-19 in our nation’s nursing homes. Today no one is safe, from the residents trapped alone in their rooms to the underpaid staff members working without PPE. While many American communities are in dire need, our nation’s most vulnerable individuals cannot be overlooked in our efforts to defeat COVID-19,” the lawmakers concluded.
Also signing the letter were Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tom Udall (D-NM), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO).
Reps. Linda Sanchez (Calif.-38), Sean Casten (Ill.-06), Nanette Diaz Barragan (Calif.-44), John Larson (Conn.-01), Sanford Bishop, Jr. (Ga.-02), Jahana Hayes (Conn.-05), Betty McCollum (Minn.-04), Cindy Axne (Iowa-03), Andre Carson (Ind-07), Max Rose (N.Y.-11), Thomas Suozzi (N.Y.-03), Juan Vargas (Calif.-51), Al Lawson (Fla-05), Susan Davis (Calif.-53), Lois Frankel (Fla.-21), Katie Porter (Calif.-45), Donna Shalala (Fla.-27), Daniel Kildee (Mich.-05), Jimmy Gomez (Calif.-34), Marcia Fudge (Ohio-11), Jackie Speier (Calif.-14), Debbie Dingell (Mich.-12), Ted Deutch (Fla.-22), Bennie Thompson (Miss.-22), Tim Ryan (Ohio-13), Lucy McBath (Ga.-06), Peter DeFazio (Ore.-04), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.-23), Joseph Morelle (N.Y.-25), Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.07), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio-09), Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii-02), Emanuel Cleaver, II (Mo.-05), Val Demings (Fla.-10), James Langevin (R.I.-02), Bill Foster (Ill.-11), Jason Crow (Colo-06), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.-12), Albio Sires (N.J.-08), Donald Payne, Jr. (N.J.-10), Grace Meng (N.Y.-06), Judy Chu (Calif.-27), Mikie Sherrill (N.J.-11), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.-05), Eliot Engel (N.Y.-16) Mark DeSaulnier (N.Y.-11), Chrissy Houlahan (Penn.-06), Charlie Crist (Fla.-13), Brenda Lawrence (Mich.-14), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.-13), Steve Cohen (Tenn.-09), Colin Allred (Tex.-32), Gilbert Cisneros, Jr. (Calif.-39), Angie Craig (Minn.02), Vicente Gonzalez (Tex.-15), Ed Perlmutter (Colo.-07), Mary Gay Scanlon (Penn.05), Dwight Evans (Penn.-04), Wm. Lacy Clay (Mo.-01), Dina Titus (Nev.-01), Seth Moulton (Mass.-06), Julia Brownley (Calif.-26), Susan Wild (Penn.-07), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.-13), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.-30), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Fla.-26), Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.-01), Elaine Luria (Minn.02), John Sarbanes (Md.-03), Bradley Schneider (Ill.10), Gregory Meeks (N.Y.-05), Conor Lamb (Penn.-17), Chellie Pingree (Maine-01), TJ Cox (Calif.-21), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.-14), Rosa DeLauro (Conn.-03), Stephen Lynch (Mass.08), Tom Malinowski (N.J.-07), Ben McAdams (Utah-04), Hank Johnson, Jr. (Ga.-04), Scott Peters (Calif.-52), Sharice Davids (Kans.-03), Terri Sewell (Ala.-07), Lori Trahan (Mass.-03), Brian Higgins (N.Y.-26), Kathleen Rice (N.Y.-04), Joe Neguse (Colo.-02), Eric Swalwell (Calif.-15), Jerry McNerney (Calif.-09), Grace Napolitano (Calif.-32), Alana Lowenthal (Calif.-47), John Yarmuth (Ky.-03), Jose Serrano (N.Y.-15), Jim Cooper (Tenn.-05), Jamie Raskin (Md.-08), Paul Tonko (N.Y.-20), Donald Beyer, Jr. (N.Y.-20), Jesus Garcia (Ill.-04), Adam Schiff (Calif.-28), Ted Lieu (Calif.-33), Bobby Rush (Ill.-01), David Price (N.C.-04), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.-08), Lizzie Fletcher (Tex.-07), Raul Grijalva (Ariz.-03), Joseph Kennedy, III (Mass.-04), Rick Larsen (Wash.-02), Suzan DelBene (Wash.-01) and Henry Cuellar (Tex.-28) also signed the letter.
To read the letter, click here
