Rep. Granger Urges Helping Our Seniors Before It's Too Late

Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) writes in an editorial published by The Hill that the coronavirus has disproportionately targeted senior men and women. As a result, she is calling for the U.S. government to do more for this demographic. The ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, Granger stresses that great emphasis must be placed on getting resources to help these vulnerable Americans. She writes, "I have worked closely with Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) in a bipartisan way to ensure that stimulus money was provided for just these types of situations. Yet it is now obvious that in administering some of these programs, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not acted quickly enough." She applauds the Trump administration for doing a good job of prioritizing nursing communities early in the pandemic so that they received sorely needed personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies. The problem is many of the nation's seniors reside in senior living communities where they don't require full-time nursing care and can live at a more affordable rate. According to Granger, "these facilities have still not been prioritized by HHS for financial relief. They have not been prioritized for PPE, or for testing supplies, and I fear once a vaccine is approved, they will continue to be overlooked."