Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC –  Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, and Congressman David Valadao (R-CA-22) reintroduced the Reinforcing Essential Health Systems for Communities Act, bipartisan legislation to formally recognize “essential health systems” in federal law and unlock new pathways for federal funding and support for safety net hospitals that care for large numbers of uninsured and low-income patients.

“The hospitals that care for our most vulnerable neighbors are doing more with less every single day,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “By reintroducing the Reinforcing Essential Health Systems for Communities Act, we’re reaffirming our commitment to ensuring these hospitals are better positioned to receive the resources they need to keep their doors open and their communities healthy. This bill gives Congress a smarter, fairer way to direct support to the health systems that serve as lifelines in cities and towns across the country.”

“Central Valley hospitals play a vital role in caring for our communities, but they can’t do that without the resources they need,” said Congressman Valadao. “The bipartisan Reinforcing Essential Health Systems for Communities Act helps better identify rural and underserved hospitals that require critical investments, making it easier to direct federal resources where they’re needed most. Ensuring Central Valley families have access to affordable, quality healthcare is my top priority, and I’ll continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance commonsense solutions to meet that goal.”

Essential health systems are foundational to local health care infrastructure, particularly in communities where access to care depends on hospitals that shoulder a disproportionate share of Medicaid, low-income Medicare, and uninsured patients. Despite providing, on average, five times more uncompensated care than other hospitals, these facilities remain chronically underfunded and face ongoing challenges maintaining services and meeting community needs.

To better support these hospitals, the Reinforcing Essential Health Systems for Communities Act would establish a new “essential health systems” designation in federal law. This designation would allow policymakers to more effectively target federal funding, health equity initiatives, and public health resources to nonprofit hospitals that serve historically under-resourced communities.

Hospitals would qualify as “essential health systems” by meeting one of the following criteria for at least two out the past three years:

• The hospital’s patients are at least 35% low-income, based on Medicaid use and low-income Medicare patients.

• The hospital provides at least 0.05% of all unpaid hospital care in the entire country, making it one of the hospitals delivering the most uncompensated care nationwide.

• The hospital is in the top 16% of providers in their state that serve low-income and/or unpaid care.

Under this definition, 17 hospitals in Massachusetts would qualify as essential health systems and become eligible for additional federal support, including Lowell General Hospital, Merrimack Health Lawrence Hospital, and UMass Memorial Medical Center.

“We applaud Congresswoman Trahan’s leadership in advancing a federal ‘essential hospital’ designation to recognize hospitals that anchor our health care safety net,” said Amy Hoey, RN, President of Tufts Medicine Lowell General Hospital. “Safety net hospitals operate on razor-thin margins while serving our most vulnerable neighbors, including patients that are low-income and uninsured, and sustaining critical community programs. This designation rightly acknowledges their indispensable role in public health.”

“As a regional community health system and a vital safety-net provider in the Merrimack Valley, we strongly support the proposed legislation to establish an Essential Health Systems designation,” said Merrimack Health Lawrence Hospital President & CEO Diana L. Richardson. “By recognizing essential providers through this legislation, Congress can ensure that Essential Health Systems like Merrimack Health remain open, resilient, and able to meet growing patient needs now and in the future. We are grateful to Congresswoman Trahan for leading this important effort in our region and the nation.

“UMass Memorial Health is proud to serve all patients across Central Massachusetts, regardless of their insurance status, income level, or ability to pay. As an Essential MassHealth Hospital, our dedicated caregivers work every day to address systemic barriers to care and provide the high-quality health services our communities deserve,” said UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson. “Creating a federal essential health systems designation would help protect access to care for our communities’ most vulnerable residents and ensure that systems like UMass Memorial Health have the resources to continue providing life-saving services long into the future.” 

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