{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://riggleman.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-riggleman-joins-bipartisan-effort-protect-aid-hospitals-during", "Congressman Riggleman Joins Bipartisan Effort to Protect Aid to Hospitals During COVID-19 Pandemic", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Denver Riggleman", "R000611", "riggleman.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. -- Over the weekend, Congressman Denver Riggleman joined 238 members of Congress in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar expressing concerns over recent changes to the Provider Relief Fund (PRF). \nThe bipartisanletter, led by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV-01), safeguards the PRF as a critical lifeline for essential healthcare providers as they continue to serve our vulnerable communities during the coronavirus pandemic. \nIn the letter, the members wrote: \"On September 19, 2020, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) announced changes to the PRF reporting requirements that could force many hospitals and other providers to return some of this vital funding and jeopardize patients' access to care while the nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents an about-face from the stipulations that HHS outlined months ago, which providers based their planning upon during an already tumultuous fiscal environment. HHS should return to PRF reporting requirements established on June 19, 2020. You can read the entire letter to Secretary Azar here. \n\"The pandemic has underscored the urgent need that our hospitals face in providing so many great services to our communities, said Congressman Riggleman.\"We cannot penalize hospitals by changing the PRF requirements now. Ilook forward to working with HHS in order to maximize support for our healthcare providers.\" \nThe PRF provided $10 billion dollars to almost 8,000 hospitals and clinics around the country as allocated by the CARES Act. Specifically, healthcare providers in Virginia received over $134 milliondollarsfrom the PRF state allocation. These critical funds were divided among 104 healthcare providers in Virginia, and provided very significant aid to rural communities battling the coronavirus. \nBackground: \nIn March of 2020,Congressman Riggleman spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of the CARES Act. You can watch his speech here. \nLearn more about the ongoing efforts to supply $175 billionin aid to hospitals through the Provider Relief Fund by clicking here. \n  ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://riggleman.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-riggleman-joins-bipartisan-effort-protect-aid-hospitals-during"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8900710381567478, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}