IDSA Advocating for Federal Coronavirus Response and Improved Access to Testing

IDSA continues to inform the federal government response to COVID-19 and advocate for emergency supplemental federal funding and improved federal policies to ensure that public health and health care systems have what they need to prevent, detect and treat infections. On March 4, Congress announced a bipartisan deal on a $7.8 billion emergency supplemental funding bill to support the COVID-19 response.  This bill includes many of IDSA’s recommendations to Congress. Details of the bill include:

• Over $2 billion to support CDC, state, local and tribal governments to conduct public health preparedness and response activities, including surveillance, laboratory testing, tracing, infection control and mitigation activities.
• Over $3 billion for the research, development, review and procurement of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
• Nearly $1 billion for health care preparedness, including procurement of pharmaceuticals, PPE and other medical supplies; and medical surge capacity.
• $1.25 billion to combat COVID-19 globally including global disease detection and response, supporting health systems, and humanitarian assistance.
• The bill also allows HHS to waive certain Medicare telehealth restrictions during the COVID-19 emergency, allowing Medicare providers to furnish telehealth services regardless of whether the patient is in a rural area.

Depending on the spread of COVID-19, an additional emergency supplemental funding bill may be needed in the future. In addition, COVID-19 highlights the importance of ongoing federal investments in preparedness and public health infrastructure.

IDSA continues to convey our members’ concerns about access to COVID-19 testing to officials at HHS (including CDC and FDA) and to Congress, who in turn have pressured HHS officials to ensure better availability of testing.  CDC continues to work to expand access to its testing kits to additional states across the country.  FDA announced a new policy allowing certain laboratories that develop validated COVID-19 diagnostics to begin to use them before FDA has completed review of their Emergency Use Authorization requests. IDSA recognizes that despite these steps forward, concerns about access to testing persist and we will continue working with federal agencies and Congress to improve access to testing for COVID-19 and to develop improved policies and infrastructure that allow for more rapid availability of testing for future public health emergencies.

IDSA is following the outbreak and updating information on its COVID-19 resources webpage The page includes links to recommendations and news from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. For additional updates and information, follow IDSA's Science Speaks blog with continuing daily coverage as well as IDSA’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.

Also, be sure to listen to IDSA’s podcast series, COVID-19: What’s Happening Now, featuring member experts in global and public health, biopreparedness and epidemiology. Upcoming episodes will focus on testing and federal funding.