House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

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House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	March 22, 2021 10:09 AM
From:	Representative Greg Rothman
To:	All House members
Subject:	Health Care Heroes and Public Health Preparedness Act

Please join me in co-sponsoring the Health Care Heroes and Public Health Preparedness Act.    This Act will set aside $650 million from the $7.293 billion the state will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act, and these monies will be used by hospitals for our health care heroes, for behavioral health support for all Pennsylvanians and for public health infrastructure.   The funds would be used to:   Help the hospital workforce, which has given its all this year Support and improve Pennsylvania’s behavioral health system Provide funds to create a public health infrastructure for the future   Regardless of your view of the past year, we can all agree that this public health crisis has impacted every single issue we confront as lawmakers. For Pennsylvania’s hospital community, to call the past year a challenge is an understatement, but a challenge that they rose to meet head on.   Hospitals and their employees to this day shoulder a huge part of the burden in most of our communities for the response to the pandemic, and now the effort to vaccinate, and this has come with immeasurable pressure on that all important resource, our health care work force, but it has also exposed the need for critical dollars to sustain them.   Through the establishment of the Health Care Heroes and Public Health Preparedness Act, you will help change the trajectory of heath care in Pennsylvania.  The Act will create a grant program to allow hospitals to apply for resources needed to continue to respond to the health crisis, generate economic activity, and prepare for future public health challenges.  The Act will require:   Defined award criteria, and responsibility to distribute grant funding will be delegated to an agency with appropriate legislative oversight Demonstrated need must exist Funds could not be used to reimburse expenses or losses fully reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are obligated to reimburse Grant recipients submit reports and maintain documentation, and be subject to audit by the Auditor General Please considering cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.

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