![]() ![]() In 2021, uninsured rates were highest among Hispanic and Black American adults, according to CDC data. The lack of federal funding could upend significant progress on mitigating racial disparities in Covid-19 outcomes and take the country back to the pandemic’s early days, where people of color fell ill and died at higher rates from the virus than their white counterparts. “If Congress continues to not fund these urgent priorities, it’s going to get harder and harder for people to access care.” “Making sure uninsured people have access is absolutely critical,” White House Covid-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said during the Tuesday press briefing. But Republicans balked at the price tag, and that tranche of money got carved out of the deal lawmakers are now considering.Ī bipartisan deal for $10 billion fell apart earlier this month when Republicans demanded a vote on an amendment that would keep in place a Trump-era policy limiting immigration because of the pandemic.īut even if Congress approves that smaller package, more money to reimburse providers for their services to uninsured Americans won’t likely be in it. In March, the White House requested $22.5 billion from Congress in Covid aid, including $1.5 billion that would have kept money flowing to providers who offer testing, treatment and vaccines to uninsured and underinsured Americans. Hospitalizations were up 6.6 percent percent over the previous week. The 7-day average of cases was 44,416 as of April 25, up more than 20 percent over the previous week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cuts come amid a fresh increase in both infections and hospitalizations. “I know people are fatigued, but this virus is more patient than we are.” “The moment that we get a little bit ahead of this problem, they rip back any protections we have,” Smoller said. When the federal reimbursements that covered the administrative costs of those shots ended, he had to stop, though he continues to give vaccines free of cost to people who come into his pharmacy. From September until March, he drove out to neighboring areas to administer a few thousand shots a week. “From my perspective, it’s insanity,” says Neal Smoller, the pharmacist in Woodstock, New York, who was running the outreach operation. ![]() ![]() Less access could also prolong the pandemic, allowing the virus to circulate and perhaps provide a haven for new, more dangerous variants. The dried-up dollars are making it harder for the low-income people who rely on these providers for testing and vaccines to get them, threatening to widen health disparities across the country. In Maine, a community health center that serves one of the state’s poorest areas is putting plans on hold to expand its dental and mental health services to pay for Covid care. In New York, a pharmacist who was administering thousands of vaccine doses a week to underinsured communities has stopped his outreach work. The cuts at the not-for-profit clinic, which serves about 11,000 patients, are just one example of how Covid-19 programs around the country have shrunk over the last month, a consequence of Congress’ failure to provide fresh funding to combat the pandemic.Ĭurative, a large private testing company, no longer offers its services to uninsured people at more than 10,000 testing sites across the country. ![]()
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