WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $7.5 billion in Provider Relief Funds (PRF) for rural communities across the nation, which Shaheen fought to secure as a set-aside during negotiations of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). New Hampshire received a total of $76,744,300 across 226 different providers.

“As New Hampshire deals with the highest level of COVID cases since last winter, these federal dollars cannot come soon enough,” said Shaheen. “I fought to secure this set-aside for our rural health care providers because I know how severe the impact of the pandemic has been for them. When I was in Berlin earlier this month, providers shared dire straits due to the surge, with beds filling up and no end in sight. This federal relief, coupled with the State getting dollars the delegation fought to secure to ramp up vaccination efforts out the door, are crucial to turning the tide of the COVID-19 crisis. I appreciate the Biden administration heeding my calls to support our rural health care providers and I will continue to work with Secretary Becerra and other White House officials to ensure the federal resources Congress secured and policies we created to get to the other side of this pandemic are distributed and implemented as intended, so together we can end this crisis once and for all.”

Shaheen recently held a press conference in Berlin with health care providers and education representatives to address the surge in COVID cases in New Hampshire’s North Country and the urgent need to counter misinformation about vaccinations.

In September, Shaheen welcomed news that funding through the PRF and ARP rural distribution would open after she and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) pushed HHS to distribute $25.5 billion in remaining COVID-19 relief for health care providers. During negotiations with the Senate and White House on the American Rescue Plan, Shaheen helped steer efforts to increase funding for the Provider Relief Fund to ensure hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers on the frontlines have the support they need to keep their doors open and continue to care for Granite Staters and Americans across the country. Shaheen also defended the Provider Relief Fund from being considered as a pay-for amid negotiations on the historic bipartisan infrastructure legislation that recently was signed into law.

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