The Biden administration is boasting about boosting trust in government by including more public input into agency rulemaking. Yet when it comes to pandemic mitigation, patient safety, and worker safety, those most affected are being ignored, and our interests dismissed. There hasn't been strengthened OSHA standards since a hearing in spring 2022. And the CDC HICPAC committee is made up of members with hospital corporate executive positions, and NO PATIENT ADVOCATES. HICPAC needs oversight. They've received hundreds of public comments, many from disabled people, and a nurses union, a patient advocacy organization, and a citizens public health group, among others, have been sounding the alarm that the CDC is going forward anyway with rules to weaken protections for both patients and healthcare workers for ALL infectious diseases, in an apparent move to satisfy corporate healthcare bean counters because patient protection might cut into their profits. Also, Healthcare Acquired Covid is not even on the list of infectious diseases tracked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program. The Biden administration also has lauded air quality mitigations as being beneficial for multiple reasons, including infectious disease spread, yet those too are not showing up in rulemaking. Pandemic mitigation was the Biden 2020 campaign promise. We the people must not just be heard, but have our needs addressed.

Please join me in writing to the White House. You are welcome to use this form, or copypaste my letter below, in part or full, directly into the White House Contact Page form.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Thanks,

Chloe Humbert

Reference: Government Executive - Biden administration boasts it’s including more public input into agency rulemaking. Agencies hope to solicit more perspectives and boost trust in government. DECEMBER 7, 2023 As part of the new agenda, the Labor Department cited all the groups they engaged with in plotting their new rules. “We intentionally seek input from members of the public who have not typically participated in the regulatory process, including workers with disabilities, union members, small businesses, low-paid workers and immigrant workers,” Labor said. The Homeland Security Department stressed its public engagement would ensure it did not implement rules with unintended harmful effects on “small businesses, startups and disadvantaged groups of multiple sorts.”

My letter to the White House:

(White House contact form limit is 1000 characters and my letter is 957.)

Dear President Joe Biden,

The Biden admin is boasting about boosting trust in govt by including more public input into agency rulemaking. Yet when it comes to pandemic mitigation, those most affected are being ignored. There hasn't been strengthened OSHA standards. The CDC HICPAC committee is made up of hospital executives and NO PATIENT ADVOCATES. Several groups have been sounding the alarm that the CDC is going forward with rules to weaken protections for both patients & healthcare workers for ALL infectious diseases, in an apparent move to satisfy corporate healthcare because patient safety might cut into their profits. Hospital Acquired Covid is not even on the list of infectious diseases tracked by the CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. The Biden admin has lauded air quality mitigation as beneficial yet those too are NOT showing up in rulemaking. Pandemic mitigation was the Biden 2020 campaign promise. We’re waiting on you.