Even years after the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended, the long tail of the pandemic continues to trip up health care in our state.
To date, California hospitals have applied for more than $3.3 billion in funding to reimburse COVID-19 expenses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). But FEMA has obligated only 53% of those unreimbursed costs, leaving some $1.6 billion left that Washington still owes California for care provided to patients during the pandemic.
CHA continues to press federal legislators and key officials with the California Office of Emergency Services and FEMA to dislodge these funds that are owed to California hospitals. Last week, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including California Sen. Alex Padilla, sent a letter to Senate leaders and Appropriations Committee chairs urging them to quickly provide relief — not only so hospitals can be reimbursed but also so they can invest in preparations for the next disaster that may strike.
Sen. Padilla deserves credit for his continued leadership and support in urging FEMA to act quickly to help meet the needs of hospitals.
Regrettably, a lack of timely federal appropriations and an approved federal budget will make rapid release of these funds more challenging. Congress must act to provide additional funding for FEMA so that it can, in turn, release more of these dollars. An August memo from FEMA leaders notes that reimbursement — other than for immediate needs — is on hold due to the lack of federal funding. The memo states: “Once the Disaster Relief Fund is sufficiently replenished … paused obligations will be processed.”
We will continue to keep you apprised of the status of the California applications as we get new information, and we will continue to press our federal partners for rapid action to protect and strengthen hospital care in California.
