{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-to-introduce-senate-version-of-covid-community-care-act-to-provide-8-billion-in-emergency-funding-for-medically-underserved-communities", "Warren to Introduce Senate Version of COVID Community Care Act to Provide $8 Billion in Emergency Funding for Medically Underserved Communities", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "November 24, 2020\n\t\t\t Warren to Introduce Senate Version of COVID Community Care Act to Provide $8 Billion in Emergency Funding for Medically Underserved Communities \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThe COVID Community Care Act\r\nwould empower trusted organizations in medically underserved communities to\r\naddress mistrust, communicate timely information, and provide services to\r\ncombat COVID-19. Bill\r\nText | One-Pager Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions\r\nCommittee (HELP), will be introducing a Senate version of Congresswoman Barbara\r\nLee's (D-Calif.) bill\r\nto provide emergency funding for community organizations in medically\r\nunderserved communities to take action as part of the larger public health\r\neffort to contain COVID-19. The COVID Community Care Act would empower trusted\r\norganizations in underserved communities to address mistrust of public health\r\ninformation and provide timely services to combat COVID-19. This legislation\r\nprovides grants for community-based organizations and nonprofits to conduct\r\ntesting, tracing, and outreach activities in communities with higher rates of\r\nthe virus or who have historically lacked access to the health care system. The\r\nbill also requires that persons hired to conduct engagement have experience and\r\nrelationships with the people living in the communities they serve. \"COVID-19 has laid bare the systemic racism embedded in the U.S. health\r\ncare system -- that our country's legacy of discrimination has prevented\r\ncommunities of color from accessing the health care services they need. I'm\r\nglad to be introducing Congresswoman Lee's legislation in the Senate to address\r\nthe government's failed response to containing and mitigating COVID-19 and\r\nprovide much-needed financial support to communities disproportionately\r\nimpacted by this pandemic,\" said Senator Warren. \"COVID is devastating Black and Brown communities. Black, Latinx, Asian\r\nand Indigenous people are all dying at disproportionate rates,\"\r\nsaid Congresswoman Barbara Lee. \"The long history of\r\ndiscrimination and racism in our health care system means we must empower\r\npeople and organizations at the local level to build trust and get lifesaving\r\npublic health information and resources to those who need it most. I'm\r\nappreciative of Senator Warren's leadership in the Senate to move this crucial\r\nlegislation forward. The COVID Community Care Act will ensure that testing,\r\ncontact tracing, and resources get to the communities of color who have been\r\nhit the hardest by this pandemic.\" The coronavirus pandemic has had an especially severe effect on low-income\r\ncommunities,communities of color, and Native communities. Black and Latinx\r\npeople are\r\nbeing hospitalized with COVID-19 at higher rates and are dying\r\nfrom COVID-19 at younger ages. American Indians and Alaska Natives have\r\nbeen especially\r\nhard hit by the pandemic and its economic effects. At the same time,\r\nfederal pandemic relief resources have not prioritized under-served\r\ncommunities. For example, a study\r\nof the Provider Relief Fund found that hospitals with the most revenue from\r\nprivate insurance received more than twice as much funding per hospital bed as\r\nthe hospitals with the least private insurance revenue. However, success in any public health crisis also depends on people's\r\nwillingness to trust the health information they are getting. This is\r\nparticularly true of communities that are medically underserved or suffer from\r\nhealth disparities. Contact tracing, testing, and public communication are some\r\nof the most effective tools we have for slowing the spread of COVID-19, but\r\nthey require trust between health care workers and communities. A legacy of\r\ndiscrimination in our health care has created mistrust among Black and Brown\r\npeople and in Native communities-mistrust so prevalent that it has been\r\ndocumented by the National Institutes of Health. To address the shortcomings of containing and mitigating COVID-19 in\r\nunderserved communities, the COVID Community Care Act specifically: \r\n Creates an $8 billion grant\r\n     program for community organizations and nonprofits to conduct testing,\r\n     contact tracing, and outreach in medically under-served communities.\r\n  \r\n Complements the\r\n     \"CONTACT\" initiative in the HEROES Act, which supports a\r\n     nationwide test-and-trace initiative run through public health agencies,\r\n     by engaging trusted community partners to reach communities that public\r\n     health agencies have difficulty engaging.\r\n  \r\n Requires individuals hired\r\n     for contact tracing to have experience and relationships in medically\r\n     under-served communities.\r\n  \r\n Requires HHS to develop a\r\n     comprehensive strategy for addressing health disparities.\r\n  \r\n Provides $400 million to the\r\n     Indian Health Service (IHS) to implement a comprehensive program to\r\n     prevent and respond to COVID-19, in partnership with tribal nations,\r\n     tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations.\r\n The COVID Community Act has been endorsed by the National Minority Quality\r\nForum, National Hispanic Medical Association, Asian & Pacific Islander\r\nAmerican Health Forum, National Indian Health Board, Partners in Health, SEIU,\r\nNational Women's Law Center, Justice in Aging, National Immigration Law Center,\r\nand UnidosUS. The House bill (H.R. 8192) was introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and is\r\nco-sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Black\r\nCaucus; Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health\r\nBraintrust; Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic\r\nCaucus; Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American\r\nCaucus; Reps. Debra Haaland (D-NM) and Sharice Davids (D-KS), Co-Chair and Vice\r\nChair, respectively, of the Congressional Native American Caucus; and more than\r\n50 of their colleagues. ###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 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": ["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-to-introduce-senate-version-of-covid-community-care-act-to-provide-8-billion-in-emergency-funding-for-medically-underserved-communities"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9643021039664745, "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"}