Dwindling COVID-19 funds diminish health equity

The declining federal funding for COVID-19 “risks a backslide in pandemic protection, with disproportionate effects on the most vulnerable Americans,” states a commentary in the American Journal of Infection Control. Funding for existing programs expired last March, and Congress has not passed another COVID-19 relief funding bill. Legislation would authorize funds for the Provider Relief Fund and the Uninsured Program to enable individuals with financial barriers to access COVID-19 medical care. Funding cuts to both programs have “exacerbated existing health inequities, leading to greater COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths among racial and ethnic minorities,” the authors state. (American Journal of Infection Control article, 10/13/22)