Chairman Doggett to Hold Health Subcommittee Hearing: Bridging Health Equity Gaps for People with Disabilities

***Media Advisory***

Contact: Kate Stotesbery
202-494-4620

Washington, D.C. – As the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates and creates new health care challenges for people with disabilities, House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) will hold a hearing, “Bridging Health Equity Gaps for People with Disabilities and Chronic Conditions,” today,Thursday, February 3 at 1 P.M. CST/2 P.M. EST.

Americans with disabilities have long faced health access challenges, ranging from mobility challenges to lack of specialists in a geographic region to inaccessible physician offices and lack of necessary medical equipment to systemic bias to difficulty obtaining comprehensive and affordable coverage. COVID-19 worsens these issues and further isolates millions of Americans who are immunocompromised and must continue to take extra precautions to avoid exposure, enduring surge after surge. For individuals who require caregiving, the burden has been even greater as workers become ill.

The pandemic has also led to the largest new entrant into the disability community in modern memory with the emergence of Long COVID. This hearing will highlight the barriers patients face and the policy reforms needed to advance health equity for people with disabilities and chronic illness, including ending the outrageous two-year wait some people face before they receive the Medicare coverage they qualify for, expanding access to telehealth and more inclusive platform design, and medical education focused on culturally-competent care.

Among the witnesses who will testify, Texan Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, will discuss her experience running a Long COVID recovery clinic jointly operating at UT Health and University Health System, as well as the needs of her patients in her regular practice. The Subcommittee will also hear from Liza Fisher, a Long COVID patient based in Houston who is currently in the two-year Medicare waiting period.

Other witnesses will discuss access challenges for patients with disabilities unrelated to COVID during the pandemic, including fewer available appointments as resources were steered to treating COVID infections, increased risk of contracting COVID and experiencing severe illness, and challenges receiving routine caregiving. Witnesses will discuss additional policy solutions such as more accessible telemedicine, ensuring culturally competent care, and more.

What: Health Subcommittee Hearing: Bridging Health Equity Gaps for People with Disabilities and Chronic Conditions

When: 1 P.M. CST/2 P.M. EST today, Thursday, February 3, 2022

Who:

• Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, Director of COVID Recovery Clinic at University Health
• Liza Fisher, Long COVID patient in Houston
• Bethany Lilly, Director of Income Policy, The Arc
• Dr. Rupa Valdez, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and at the University of Virginia School of Engineering
• Dr. Ray Dorsey, Director of the Center for Health and Technology at the University of Rochester Medical Center

Where: This hearing will take place remotely via Cisco Webex video conferencing.

Watch: Livestream of the hearing can be viewed via live webcast accessible at the Ways and Means Committee's website. The webcast will not be available until the hearing begins. Send any questions to Kate Stotesbery.

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