NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that sets national health policy, Senator Cory Booker and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09) today announced an additional $1.708 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support New Jersey hospitals and health care providers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawmakers fought to secure this funding in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act that was signed into law in March. The CARES Act allocated $100 billion for health care providers across the nation in order to respond to the outbreak and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act passed last week provided an additional $75 billion.

New Jersey has the second highest number of confirmed cases in the nation with over 121,190 confirmed cases and 7,538 deaths.

“New Jersey’s hospitals and health care providers have been pushing full throttle, doing whatever it takes to beat back this pandemic and provide care and treatment to patients,” said Sen. Menendez. “When our state first received inadequate hospital funding from the CARES Act, I fought to ensure that the Administration prioritizes states, like New Jersey, that have the greatest number of COVID-19 cases. I’ll keep fighting to ensure our health care providers have the funding and resources to purchase personal protective equipment, train and employ staff, and ultimately save lives.”

“New Jersey’s health care professionals have worked tirelessly to contain the spread of this virus and protect the health and safety of all New Jerseyans,” said Sen. Booker. “Hospitals in hard-hit states like New Jersey need immediate relief in order to keep their doors open and provide high-quality care for patients. While this is another important step in our response efforts, we must continue to fight and ensure New Jersey hospitals and other health systems have the federal resources needed to prepare for and respond to this public health crisis.”

“This virus has landed on our New Jersey like a sledgehammer, and nobody has been hit harder than our hospitals, our doctors, and our nurses,” said Rep. Pascrell. “Because of a screwy, utterly unfair formula, the first allocation of CARES Act funding was a bad joke for our state. Our entire delegation decried the mistreatment and stood up to demand that New Jersey get federal support commensurate with the size of our burden. Today’s announcement shows that the Trump administration heard us and changed its priorities. This support will protect our medical providers and save our neighbors’ lives. We will keep making sure New Jersey is prioritized in Washington until this terrible crisis has mercifully passed.”

In April, New Jersey, in two tranches, received a total of $1.062 billion released by HHS, which was inadequate based on the state’s needs. In response to the lackluster amount, Sens. Menendez, Booker, and Rep. Pascrell led a delegation letter urging HHS and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to take into account the number of Medicaid patients, uninsured patients, and the number of COVID-19 cases being treated by the state’s health care providers so that the state receives greater and more proportionate funding in next tranche.

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