Biden brings a new plan to help Americans struggling with long COVID

Biden brings a new plan to help Americans struggling with long COVID. 

President Joe Biden on Tuesday directed the US Department of Health and Human Services to draught a national action plan to address the emerging health issue of extended COVID. This multi-symptom disorder renders many patients unable to work.

According to an analysis by the Solve Long Covid Initiative, a non-profit research and advocacy group, Long COVID affects roughly 7% of all adults in the United States. 

Also, 2.3 percent of the overall population costs an estimated $386 billion in missed income, savings, and medical expenditures.

Pain, fatigue, cognitive fog, breathing problems, and exhaustion after minimal physical activity are among the more than 200 symptoms linked to the illness, many of which endure for months.

“Long COVID is real, and there is still so much we don’t know about it,” said Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who will head the government response.

He added, at a press conference, “Americans of all ages and backgrounds are experiencing long COVID.” “To be clear, we will utilize every instrument at our disposal to assist these Americans.”

According to the White House, the proposal will increase research, treatment, and disability services for those with the disease. 

Biden stated that Becerra would disclose the collaboratively drafted National Research Action Plan within 120 days in a presidential memorandum.

It addresses some of the concerns highlighted by patient advocacy groups, who have criticized the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER research program for moving too slowly. It hopes to enroll 40,000 people with and without chronic COVID.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will spend $20 million next year researching how healthcare systems may best assist patients with lengthy COVID, primary mentor care practices, and build multi-specialty clinics around the country new plan.

In addition to the agency’s $50 million investment, the plan calls for allocating an additional $25 million from Biden’s 2023 budget to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to better understand and find solutions to the characteristics, risk factors, underlying mechanisms, and health impacts of long COVID.

Other proposals include expanding the 18 Department of Veterans Affairs locations that presently provide extended COVID programs.

HHS will also establish a new project called Health+, which will gather information from people living with a frequently debilitating condition to assist educate high-quality care and contribute to standardized best practices at extended COVID clinics.

The plan also aims to collaborate with the Social Security Administration to translate its findings into practical disability policy and with the Department of Labor to assist affected workers in determining whether or not they can return to work.