Cobb weighs in on federal response to pandemic – Glens Falls Post-Star

From healthcare to the election in November, Cobb said the only way the country will be able to regain a semblance of normalcy and stability will be with sustained, well-informed leadership from the top levels of American government.

“First and foremost, we need a consistent and realistic response; that’s the only way to solve this problem,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “(Education Secretary) Betsy DeVos is not a teacher, (Vice President Michael) Pence is not a doctor, (White House Press Secretary) Kayleigh McEnany is not a scientist. We need to rely on teachers, on the healthcare professionals, on scientists to help lead us through this issue.”

As the pandemic has worsened across much of the country, hospitals have been hit on multiple fronts. Even in regions of the country with relatively low infection rates, hospitals have been required to suspend their most profitable services, like elective surgeries, causing revenues to plummet. At the same time, they’ve been required to find and acquire scarce personal protective equipment, keep staff on for longer hours and reconfigure their wards and emergency departments to handle potentially infectious patients.

North Country hospitals have all faced these issues, with many furloughing workers early on, then laying those workers off as their financial problems have dragged on and worsened. On July 24, St. Lawrence Health System, which oversees three hospitals across St. Lawrence County, announced it would be cutting 46 positions.

“This pandemic has cast a momentous spotlight on deficits in our healthcare system,” Cobb said. “COVID-19 didn’t create these gaps, but it certainly magnified them on a national stage. We don’t have a federal response. We’re still four months into this pandemic and we don’t have a federal response. This is a leadership failure at the federal level, and those like Stefanik should be held accountable for that in November.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said at a press conference Tuesday she believes the federal response, combined with the local response, has been more than adequate.

“When it comes to the national response, I think it’s important to recognize that this has been the largest, most significant, historic, not only economic rescue package, but investment in testing capacity, manufacturing and PPE, as well as Operation Warp Speed,” Rep. Stefanik said.

Operation Warp Speed “aims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics,” according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“This will be the fastest vaccination development in our nation’s history, not only our nation’s history, but in humanity’s history. The fact that we are in phase three trials for a vaccination, I think that is a very strong, robust response, and all of those bills, funded by Congress, those programs passed on a bipartisan basis,” Stefanik said. “So I would say that the response has been very strong from our county public health officials, and at the federal level, Congress has provided the resources that are important.”

Cobb said she believes the American health system needs to be reimagined, with a public health insurance option or the ability for the average person to buy into the Medicare system. She also said she would like to see Medicare be given the ability to negotiate the costs of prescription drugs.

Cobb said she, as well as groups like the AARP and the Hospital Association of New York State, all supported the Affordable Care Act when it was announced, and continue to support it today, because it improved access to healthcare and allowed healthcare providers to be more profitable and stable.

“Hospitals, nursing homes, they all need the support to provide the care,” she said. “The Affordable Care Act shored them up, and now what we’re seeing is the fragility of that. We need a realistic, consistent federal response.”

Cobb said on the topic of reopening schools, she believes that local communities should be able to decide for themselves how to provide education for their students in the fall, based on input from experts like teachers, healthcare professionals and scientists. She said they must have the financial support to ensure all students, families and staff remain safe and healthy if they choose to host in-person classes again.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all issue, because school systems are different sizes, class sizes are different, transportation is an issue,” she said. “This has to be a community, collaborative approach that’s not one-size-fits-all, and the schools need the funding to be nimble.”

When asked about whether she supports an all-mail vote in the November election, Cobb said she believes absentee ballots should be available for all who request them, but measures should be taken to ensure in-person voting is available and safe for those who want it.

“Nobody should have to choose between their health and their right to vote,” she said. “We need to expand access to voting in New York, we should have no excuse absentee, we should maximize early voting, and we should make sure that we’re funding poll watchers and training younger, healthy poll watchers, because some people are still going to want to vote in person on election day, at their regular polling place.”