Dem senator pushes to restore $120M in hospital funding

A Democratic lawmaker is using the second confirmed case of Ebola in the United States to demand that $120 million be restored to a federal program that helps hospitals plan for emergencies.

Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said the funding has been dramatically cut over the past decade.

{mosads}”The news that a nurse who treated the Ebola patient in Texas has now become infected with the virus herself highlights the need for ongoing training and education for health care workers and drills and exercises for hospitals,” Casey wrote in a letter sent Monday to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)

“Without an ongoing commitment to preparing for these events, and the funding to support training activities, we cannot adequately ensure that our health system is ready for Ebola or any other emergency,” he said in the letter, which was shared with The Hill.

Funding for the Hospital Preparedness Program had been cut by about 50 percent since 2003, from $515 million to $255 million this year, Casey noted.

Since 2012, its funding has been cut by about $125 million, a 33 percent drop.

“The Hospital Preparedness Program is a critical tool in bolstering the ability of our Nation’s hospitals to respond to a wide variety of public health threats, including emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola or a new strain of influenza,” Casey wrote.

“This program supports hospitals and other stakeholders engaged in planning for a public health emergency, providing dedicated resources for training staff and running drills and exercises.”

Texas, the state now dealing with a second Ebola patient, received an estimated $16.5 million in funding from the program last year, the second most of all states behind only California.

Still, all states have seen a drop in funding under sequestration.

Casey wants the program to get the full $375 million authorized under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which Congress reauthorized last year.

On MSNBC he said he wants a “fully functional appropriation program so you don’t have some of the breaches we’ve seen so far.”