Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) have presented the SAFE bill that would compel Medicare to totally cover the costs of medically required equipment for persons who are especially vulnerable during climate-related disasters.
The legislation, known as the Survival Aid for Emergencies (SAFE bill) through Medicare Act, covers technologies like solar cells and heat pumps that may be required for the survival of disabled and elderly people during power outages caused by disasters. The lawmakers observed that one-third of the 4,500 deaths caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 were linked in part to power outages interfering with medical equipment.
The SAFE bill would additionally expand Medicare to cover services considered medically necessary by the Department of Health and Human Services for vulnerable persons during calamities. According to Markey and Frost, more than 90 percent of Americans who rely on electricity for in-home medical care are Medicare beneficiaries.
According to Markey, the SAFE bill will avert medical disasters by keeping people secure in their homes. He also stated that it is time to ensure that elders and those with disabilities can weather the climate disaster securely.
Frost stated that Florida and the country deserve a disaster-ready healthcare system that will allow working people and elders to afford to weather any storm securely. It is inexcusable that in a place where storms, flooding, and extreme rain occur on a regular basis, people on fixed incomes are one natural disaster away from losing life-sustaining medication or medical devices, he added. Thus, the passing of the SAFE bill may secure the health of people living in a climate-prone area
Markey previously worked with Frost, Congress’s youngest member, on a reissue of the Green New Deal climate resolution, which the Massachusetts Democrat first co-sponsored with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in 2019.
Health Care Without Harm, Transhealth, the Family Health Center of Worcester, the Climate and Community Project, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and Disability Rights Florida all support the SAFE bill.
Climate-related disasters are rampant in today’s time due to man-made activities and abuse of our environment. Hence, the passing of the SAFE bill will help the state to assist its people, especially the vulnerable. A disaster-ready healthcare system through the SAFE bill.