WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance committee that sets national health policy, and Cory Booker today announced $280,127,442 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support safety- net hospitals across New Jersey. The senators secured this special funding in the CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Act.

“Hospitals throughout New Jersey have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our safety net hospitals have been especially hard hit by this pandemic and this critical funding will allow them to continue providing top-notch care for our state’s most vulnerable populations,” said Sen. Menendez. “If we allowed these hospitals to fail, we would failed the countless New Jerseyans that rely on them for their health care. I have been pressing HHS to release additional funds from the provider fund and I will continue fighting for the funding and resources our hospitals, providers and state needs to combat and recover from this virus.”

“Insufficient funding for New Jersey’s safety net hospitals not only jeopardizes their ability to care for some of our most vulnerable populations, but also threatens their financial viability,” said Sen. Booker. “We must ensure our hospitals primarily serving Medicaid and low-income patients have the resources needed to provide quality care to all, particularly during the current public health crisis. I am pleased to see HHS release this critical funding to New Jersey hospitals so we can continue to protect the health and safety of all of our residents.”

On Monday, Sen. Menendez led a bipartisan letter, along with Sen. Booker, that urged HHS and Centers for Medicare and Mediciad Services to disperse this funding as quickly as possible. In normal times, these hospitals face high-uncompensated care costs and bring in significantly lower revenue than other hospitals; the pandemic has severely exacerbated these disparities. The patients these hospitals serve often face underlying health conditions and barriers to quality health care, meaning they’re at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.

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