House passes bill with more hospital aid

Federal funding would help region, but unlikely to pass

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill Thursday night that would increase federal funding for Capital Region hospitals. But is unlikely to see final passage.

In addition to aid for state and local governments and schools — and money for testing and tracing — the legislation contained a provision that would give hospitals in the Capital Region nearly $100 million in additional federal funds annually.

The provision was included in the earlier relief bill passed by the House in May at the behest of Rep. Paul Tonko, D -Amsterdam, but that bill never cleared the Senate. For months, House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the White House have been unable to agree on a deal to provide more coronavirus aid.

Tonko declined to say specifically if he was eyeing other legislative vehicles to get a funding change for Capital Region hospitals signed into law, but he would work with steps as the come along.

“I’m not done with the fight,” he said.

The provision delivers a change Capital Region hospitals have seen seeking for two decades: an increase to the Capital Region’s Medicare Wage Index rate. That increase would mean more federal reimbursement of services rendered at hospitals in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Montgomery and Rensselaer counties.

Local hospitals cheered in May when the provision was added to House Democrats’ Heroes Act, but that legislation went nowhere. The new coronavirus relief bill is smaller than the Heroes Act and is meant as a gesture of compromise with the White House and Senate Republicans. The bill passed almost entirely along party lines, with 18 Democrats voting against it.

It would restore a federal benefit providing an additional $600 per week on top of state unemployment benefits and deliver another round of direct stimulus payments.

Mcconnell said Wednesday that “the thought that Senate Republicans would go up to $2.2 trillion is outlandish.”

Tonko said Friday the coronavirus relief effort “should be brought to completion.”

“How many more millions of cases?” Tonko asked. “It’s regrettable that there is not this order of seriousness and responsibility and empathy that should be guiding us through the process.”