Opinion: Cortez Masto's Crucial Vote
One year ago, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This legislation, the American Hospital Association points out, helps hospitals and health systems provide care to their patients and communities. It increases access to health coverage for people who are uninsured or have lost their insurance.
It makes critical investments in Covid vaccines, treatment, testing, contact tracing, personal protective equipment, and workforce development. It has helped save jobs in the hospital field by expanding eligibility and providing more resources for the Paycheck Protection Program.
Critically for Nevada, the bill provides $8.5 billion to reimburse our endangered but absolutely vital rural health care providers for expenses and lost revenues attributable to COVID–19.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 passed the Senate by one vote, over unanimous Republican opposition. In other words, without Senator Cortez Masto — and without a Democratic majority in the Senate — the fight against the worst pandemic in American history would have come to a standstill. So while Republicans were busy politicizing the pandemic, Senator Cortez Masto was hard at work making sure rural Nevada hospitals, doctors, and nurses, and patients got the resources they needed. And hard at work earning your vote.