Markey, Frost introduce bill to require full Medicare coverage of climate-resilient medical equipment

Legislation introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) would require Medicare to fully cover the costs of medically necessary equipment to people at particular risk during climate disasters.

The legislation, the Survival Aid for Emergencies (SAFE) through Medicare Act, covers equipment such as solar batteries and heat pumps that may be necessary for the survival of disabled and elderly people during disasters that cause power outages. The lawmaker duo noted that about one in three of the 4,500 deaths during 2017’s Hurricane Maria were attributed in part to power outages interfering with medical equipment.

The bill would also expand Medicare to apply to those services defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as medically necessary for vulnerable people during disasters. Markey and Frost cite 2019 estimates that more than 90 percent of Americans who rely on electricity for in-home medical care are Medicare beneficiaries.

The determination of medical necessity would be based on a combination of an area’s history of disasters, patients’ medical conditions and comorbidities and their dependence on equipment.

“Climate justice is a matter of disability justice,” Markey said in a statement. “When the temperature skyrockets and the power goes out, things like solar batteries and heat pumps become medical devices.”

“The SAFE through Medicare Act will keep people safe in their homes and prevent medical tragedies,” he continued. “It’s time that we guarantee that seniors and people with disabilities can safely weather the climate crisis.”

Frost echoed Markey’s sentiments, claiming the U.S. deserves “a disaster-ready health care system.”

“Florida and our nation deserve a disaster-ready health care system that will help working people and seniors be able to afford to safely weather any storm,” Frost said. “It’s unacceptable that in a state where we regularly live through hurricanes, flooding, and severe rain, folks on fixed incomes are one natural disaster away from losing the life sustaining medication or medical devices they need.”

Markey previously collaborated with Frost, the youngest member of Congress, on a reintroduction of the expansive Green New Deal climate resolution, which the Massachusetts Democrat first co-sponsored with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2019.