Transcript of Roundtable on Health Care Investments in the American Rescue Plan Act

Cambridge, MA – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congresswoman Lori Trahan and hospital administrators and clinicians to discuss health care investments made in the American Rescue Plan Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark. It's an honor to be here with you, with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, with Congresswoman Lori Trahan. And again, with you, Madam Senator, in your capacity here.

Doctor, thank you for the opportunity to be here at Cambridge Health Alliance, so we can discuss some things.

And I'm particularly eager, because the President last week, in his State of the Union address, said something where he wanted us to work in unity. He thought there could be common ground in four areas. Four areas that you work in, too – well, starting with mental health, and he went into more detail about that. Thank you for your leadership in that regard.

He also talked about helping our veterans and the mental health issue comes into play there. He talked about opioids, just putting an end to that as well as his moonshot of cancer. So again, because of – because the mental health issue has been something where we have really got to do something so transformative, so different from before. Some of the things that need to be incrementally increased, but the mental health issue has to be transformational in all that. So that's why I was particularly interested in hearing about what you're all up to here and in any other aspect of this.

We're very proud of what we did in the ARP, the American Rescue Plan, where we transferred – we got people – Medicaid onto Affordable Care Act. Many more people signing up, so many things in there. And some of that in the continued – in the other legislation that hasn't passed yet, but we fully intend to do. There's so many other things, but I thought we'd start with where we – present hopes that we would have unity, that you – we can learn so much from you about. And thank you.

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Speaker Pelosi. Well, thank you, I appreciate your saying that. We have had challenges in terms of disparities within our health care system throughout. The decision that the President has made is about equity and justice in everything that we do, whether it's building infrastructure, environmental justice, whatever it is, but in all of this as well. And the Members that you acknowledge, and I thank you for sending them to the Congress, have been an important part of how we subject the challenge that was revealed. We sort of knew, but there was no denying after seeing how the pandemic hit, that we were not – that it hit places, disproportionately Black, Brown, whatever. And again, revealed what was – should have been self-evident, but was clear to anybody who cared to know the truth, that we had to address these issues in a culturally, linguistically appropriate way. And that anything less than that was a disservice.

The issue – other issue is money. And we have to think in a bigger way about mental health. It's, it's health, you know, it's – what are we talking about? But in that vein, the – I think that the public is ready to understand that health care is health care in every aspect of it. But when we're talking about our safety-net hospitals, we really have to be thinking in a very substantial way. And the good news for me is, as I listened to the providers — and we tried to get more provider money, many of the hospitals that said take care of the safety-net hospitals first. We all need money. They absolutely must have the resources, that we may have to call upon you to reach out to others to make sure that they know that that's part of the, shall we say, prioritizing, that we have to do.

But they don't even want – some in the Congress don't want to do any provider money. And because they take the most substantial institution and say they don't need it. No, we're not talking about them, we're talking about the rest.

And again, as Congresswoman Pressley mentioned, from the earliest time, whether it's STEM, the science part of STEM, to get kids early, into that loop, so very, very important.

I'm in awe of what you do, all of you. Thank you so much to you, of course, Doctor, to Janine. Well, may I call you Janine?

[Laughter]

To Janine, and to Dr. Venter, and Dr. Mehta, and to you, Representative Decker, thank you so much.

Any other comments? Are you – this is awesome, what you're doing. I mean, you have really taken it to where it needs to go. And now we all have to recognize that we need to do more for you.

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Speaker Pelosi. As you ended, you've given us a path. Because what you're talking about – modernizing. Whether we're talking about technologically, ventilation wise, in so many other different ways. We have to show the people you serve the respect they deserve. And the respect they see when they come to a place that is not substandard in any way. And I would apply that to classrooms as well as – schools as well as hospitals. So again, the rapid change in technology, ventilation, all these kinds of things, water systems, everything. We have to put our hand in every pocket that's coming down.

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Speaker Pelosi. Janine mentioned the word ‘time' at the end of her remarks. And doctor, you mentioned ‘time' at the beginning of your remarks, about the – time and urgency and the time it took in health and how things are.

So it's about time for us to do much – and work about it. And we will be better equipped with the basis of what you are telling us, and what you're hearing from your patients, which is very valuable as well.