‘The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle Calls on Congress to Help Health Care Workers: ‘These Aren't Partisan Issues'
In an op-ed published Tuesday by USA Today, the actor, who has become deeply familiar with the health care industry through his roles on 'ER' and 'The Pitt,' revealed that he plans to travel to Capitol Hill this week with ambassadors of FIGS, an apparel company dedicated to supporting and standing up for health care workers. He will join 18 health care professionals and his mother, a retired nurse, on the trip to Washington.
'Since ['The Pitt'] premiered, I've heard from countless health care workers who've told me they finally feel seen,' Wyle wrote. 'Their stories echo the same themes: exhaustion, compassion and a system that threatens to make their life's work unsustainable.'
In Washington, Wyle and his fellow advocates will ask Congress to act on the lack of mental health support, as well as the administrative burden and financial strain, that health care workers are struggling with right now. Wyle and co. are specifically seeking the reauthorization and renewed funding of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which was enacted with bipartisan support in 2022 but expired in 2024.
The act sets aside funding for both federal mental health programs for health care workers and financial grants designed to strengthen peer support, training programs and encourage cultural change at an institutional level.
The group will also be calling on Congress to move forward with reforms that are meant to take clinical judgment out of the hands of insurance companies and back into those of health care workers. 'Administrative red tape is strangling the system. Physicians and their staff spend nearly two full business days each week dealing with prior authorization – essentially asking insurance companies for permission to treat their patients,' Wyle explained.
Finally, Wyle said he plans to address the financial issues plaguing health care workers' lives. Citing one FIGS ambassador's experience working 80-hour weeks while barely being able to afford groceries, Wyle announced his intention to champion the Awesome Humans Act, which is a proposed federal tax credit intended to provide health care workers with some much-needed financial relief.
'Our message is simple: Without a supported, protected and fairly treated workforce, there is no patient care,' Wyle argued. 'These aren't partisan issues. They're practical ones. And they're urgent. Because when our health care professionals are burned out, buried in paperwork or forced to leave the field altogether, we all pay the price.'
'I'm not a policymaker. I'm not a clinician. But I've spent my career listening to those who are, and I've seen the difference they make when it matters most,' the 'Pitt' star concluded. 'To anyone who's ever benefited from the knowledge, care and courage of a health care professional, now's the time to show up for them and take action. They've had our backs. It's time we have theirs.'
The post 'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle Calls on Congress to Help Health Care Workers: 'These Aren't Partisan Issues' appeared first on TheWrap.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
CDC funding changes inject ‘chaos' into local health programs
The Trump administration has delayed or blocked millions of dollars in federal grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leaving state and local health departments in the dark, uncertain when or even if they will get money that's already been appropriated by Congress for key public health initiatives. With little communication from the White House, CDC staff are trying to expedite getting grants out the door, and public health officials are scrambling to spend the money they have before it expires Sept. 30. The CDC typically doles out the money it receives from Congress to state and local health departments, which in turn fund local contracts. But with the start of the new administration, the White House began to apportion money to CDC on a month-by-month basis, citing the need for external reviews. That practice stopped when the agency received a two-month apportionment through the end of the fiscal year, according to CDC employees, but some grants were delivered late while others are still being blocked. 'Everything is weeks, if not months behind schedule,' a CDC employee with knowledge of the funding situation said. Another employee noted the extra layers involved in getting funding out the door, including new external reviews being conducted by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 'With every single award requiring DOGE review, there is fear the award may not be made before the end of the fiscal year and lapse of funds,' the employee said. Raynard Washington, director of the Mecklenburg County Public Health Department in North Carolina, said his agency laid off six workers — including half its disease investigators — after grants for HIV prevention and surveillance programs expired at the end of May with no information about future funding. The grants were eventually restored about a month later, but to date the department has only been able to bring back half of the people it laid off. 'So now we're behind, and cases are still being reported every day that have to be investigated,' Washington said. 'The more time that people may have been exposed to HIV and don't know it, or syphilis and don't know it and are getting tested and treated, those delays actually translate to potential illness.' Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preventing CDC from funding tens of millions of dollars in other awards, including for public health emergency preparedness, chronic disease prevention and education, academic prevention research centers, gun violence, and tobacco use. That means activities like training hospital staff and other health workers alongside first responders to prepare for a natural disaster are on hold. Washington said North Carolina had to lay off its team working on tobacco prevention efforts because the funding had dried up. 'These are not delays that we expect, given that Congress has appropriated funding for these initiatives,' Washington said. 'And these are things that — despite the political swings in Washington — have largely received bipartisan support, and so you don't expect that there was going to be gaps.' Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services in Texas, said he was waiting for nearly 30 percent of the promised award for public health emergency preparedness. The state doesn't know if that money is ever coming, Huang said. 'So, it makes it very difficult for us to plan. And many health departments don't have much buffer. If you plan and keep everything fully operational with all your staff now, and then you don't get the [remaining funding], then you're not going to be able to last through the year,' Huang said. CDC centers are currently not allowed to move funding into the blocked programs, according to employees. If that money is not apportioned by Sept. 30, it could be returned to the Treasury, a maneuver known as a 'pocket rescission' that has drawn criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Congress in July approved the White House's official rescissions proposal to claw back $9 billion of funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The White House would have to send another official rescission message to Congress, which Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought claims would effectively freeze the funding and cause it lapse. 'Effectively, what they're doing is keeping that money in house. We can't pull it down,' said Scott Harris, chief of the Alabama Department of Public Health and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. 'We have grants that we thought we had access to, we suddenly have different rules about how we're allowed to spend.' Asked about the status of CDC grants, the Department of Health and Human Services referred The Hill to OMB, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Harris said the uncertainty is 'chaos' for health departments and makes it almost impossible to predict or plan for the future. 'We never really know month to month if a program's still going to be here anymore,' Harris said. 'We have serious concerns about whether all of the money that has been awarded will be spent before the end of the fiscal year. New instructions on which types of expenditures are allowable will prevent us from supporting much of the programmatic work that the grants are designed to fund.'
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
MTG calls for property tax abolition, derides health insurance as 'giant scam'
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia advocated for the abolition of property taxes and described health insurance as a big "scam." "We need to completely abolish property taxes. It forces us to pay 'rent' to the government on property that we own, but if we don't pay property taxes, the property that we own gets taken away from us. That should never happen in a free country," Greene declared in a post on X. "Secondly, health insurance is a giant scam that has become completely unaffordable. And it doesn't make any sense and I don't know anyone, and I mean anyone, that supports the current healthcare system in the United States," she continued. The congresswoman, who identifies ideologically as "America ONLY," asserted that both issues should be urgently tackled. "These are American Only issues and such significant problems that we should be addressing them the same way we would if our house was on fire," she declared in the post, exclaiming, "America Only!!!!!" Greene wants the U.S. to cut off all foreign aid. In a post on X earlier this month she said "it's absolutely ridiculous that Congress refuses to step off the hamster wheel of America LAST insanity. Almost everyone I work with just keeps pushing the YES button on votes for foreign aid and foreign funding like lab rats that are trained to receive treats." Last month Greene ruled out a 2026 Peach State gubernatorial bid.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Forever chemicals' found in Indiana water, EPA data shows. Two Indiana cities over the EPA limit.
If you drink tap water out of a filtered pitcher, it is important to make sure you're using the right type of filter depending on your local contaminants, which in some cases, might be more serious than others. USA TODAY published a map of public drinking water systems that recently submitted test results for "forever chemicals" to the Environmental Protection Agency. South Bend was one of two Indiana towns found to have chemicals over the federally dictated levels. Here's what we know. What are 'forever chemicals'? PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," are defined by the EPA as long-lasting chemicals with components that break down very slowly over time. Because of the widespread use of these chemicals, they are found in water, air, soil, fish and even human blood in varying levels. Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some of these chemicals may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. As a result, the EPA established legally enforceable levels in 2024 for six PFAS in public drinking water. Public water systems must monitor for these chemicals and take action to reduce the levels of these chemicals if they violate the EPA's standards. They must also provide notification to the public of the violation. Can PFAS be filtered out of water? Not all filters reduce PFAS in water, so you should look for a filter that is specifically certified to do so, according to the EPA. The agency recommends using the following types of water filters: Charcoal (Granular Activated Carbon or GAC): These filters use carbon to trap chemicals as water passes through them. Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems: Reverse osmosis is a process that forces water through an extremely thin barrier that separates chemicals from the water. Ion Exchange Resins: Resins are tiny beads that act like powerful magnets that attract and hold the contaminated materials from passing through the water system. PFAS detected in Indiana While PFAS have been detected in Indiana, they have mostly been detected at lower levels. The following two public water systems in were found to have "forever chemical" levels over the EPA limit: South Bend: 1.3x the limit Morgantown: 1.6x the limit Are 'forever chemicals' in your water? Check map CONTRIBUTING: USA TODAY staff. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Are there 'forever chemicals' in South Bend water? See map of EPA data Solve the daily Crossword
