Private safety-net hospitals will need federal financial support to help in the fight against COVID-19.

That was the message the National Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals sent in a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma.

The letter explained that

Hospitals need consistent, reliable, adequate cash flow to support the challenge ahead.  Our private safety-net hospitals, and others like us, are already incurring significant costs preparing for the influx of patients to come.  Most of these hospitals have stopped performing elective surgeries and have lost an important source of revenue.  Now, they are concerned about their ability to pay their bills until the anticipated surge of patients and also concerned about the potential for delays in payments once those patients arrive.  This is revenue they need to pay their bills:  to keep the lights on, the water running, the staff paid, and the patient rooms supplied and equipped.  Hospitals need this reliable, consistent flow of money – and they need it sooner rather than later.

See NASH’s letter here.