{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-urges-senate-leaders-to-adopt-bill-to-address-health-inequity-in-the-covid-19-relief-package", "Warren Urges Senate Leaders to Adopt Bill to Address Health Inequity in the COVID-19 Relief Package", "2020-12-11", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 11, 2020\n\t\t\t Warren Urges Senate Leaders to Adopt Bill to Address Health Inequity in the COVID-19 Relief Package \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWarren's bill with Rep.\r\nBarbara Lee provides $8 billion for faith-based and community organizations and\r\nthe Indian Health Service The funds would reach\r\nmedically-underserved communities that have been hit disproportionately hard by\r\nthe pandemic The bill also funds public\r\noutreach to overcome medical mistrust Text\r\nof Letter (PDF) Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.) today wrote to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y) and\r\nSenate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urging them to ensure the next\r\nCOVID-19 relief package includes her bill - first introduced by Representative\r\nBarbara Lee (D-Calif.) - the COVID\r\nCommunity Care Act, which provides grants to faith-based and community\r\norganizations, as well as funding to the Indian Health Service, to conduct\r\ntesting, contact tracing, and public outreach in medically under-served\r\ncommunities. \"As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact\r\non low-income communities, Tribal nations, and communities of color. It is\r\nessential that the next federal pandemic relief package include funding that\r\ndirectly reaches these communities and enlists trusted partners to provide\r\nservices and information that slow the spread of COVID-19,\" Senator\r\nWarren wrote. The coronavirus pandemic has had an especially severe effect on low-income\r\ncommunities, communities of color, and Native communities. Black and Latino\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. This week the\r\nGovernment Accountability Office (GAO) agreed to Senator Warren's and\r\nCongresswoman Ayanna Pressley's request to open an investigation\r\ninto racial inequity in the pandemic response. Further, 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. A legacy of discrimination in our health care has created\r\nmistrust among Black and Brown people and in Native communities-mistrust so\r\nprevalent that it has been documented by the National Institutes of Health.\r\nPublic communication from local, trusted sources is critical to effective\r\ncontact tracing and will be critical to administering COVID-19 vaccines once\r\nthey become available to the broader public. To contain and mitigate COVID-19 in medically underserved communities, the\r\nCOVID Community Care Act specifically: \r\nCreates an $8 billion grant program for\r\ncommunity organizations and nonprofits to conduct testing, contact tracing, and\r\noutreach in medically under-served communities. \r\nComplements the \"CONTACT\" initiative\r\nin the HEROES Act, which supports a nationwide test-and-trace initiative run\r\nthrough public health agencies, by engaging trusted community partners to reach\r\ncommunities that public health agencies have difficulty engaging. \r\nRequires individuals hired for contact tracing\r\nto have experience and relationships in medically under-served communities. \r\nRequires HHS to develop a comprehensive strategy\r\nfor addressing health disparities. \r\nProvides $400 million to the Indian Health\r\nService (IHS) to implement a comprehensive program to prevent and respond to\r\nCOVID-19, in partnership with tribal nations, tribal organizations, and urban\r\nIndian organizations. 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\nFamilies USA, and 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.  ###", 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-urges-senate-leaders-to-adopt-bill-to-address-health-inequity-in-the-covid-19-relief-package"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8203689940273762, "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"}