On Friday, March 25, many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus signed a letter to Congressional Leadership urging the passage of supplemental funding — so that the millions of uninsured Americans maintain vital access to COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment.
NACDS commends the members for their active role in prioritizing the health and wellbeing of the American people — including the nation’s most vulnerable.
Members wrote in the letter, “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated long-standing racial and ethnic health inequities, with disproportionately high rates of hospitalization and death among African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and Native American individuals.
“Current statistics show that Hispanic and Black individuals comprise a disproportionate share of the uninsured and one analysis showed that an estimated 5.7 million uninsured Americans are at high risk for severe COVID-19. As of 2019, 6.6% of Asian Americans and 9.1% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were uninsured.”
The members continued, saying, “For more than two years the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) uninsured and Increased Community Access to Testing (ICATT) programs have been critical tools in combating the virus and protecting some of our nation’s most vulnerable populations, including uninsured people and communities of color.
“These essential programs provide those without health insurance a means of accessing vital COVID-19 care such as vaccination, testing, and treatment services, including thousands of COVID-19 community testing sites located in our districts, 70% of which are in areas with moderate to severe social vulnerability.”
The expiration of funding for these vital initiatives — which promote equitable vaccination, testing and treatment access for the public, including vulnerable, uninsured populations — undermines Americans’ uninterrupted access to critically needed care.
“We fear that the loss of this funding will not only jeopardize our ability to combat the virus but also put millions of lives at risk, especially with case counts rising overseas and many public health experts warning of similar trends following in the U.S. in the coming weeks,” the members said.
NACDS continues to urge collaboration across the Biden Administration and the U.S. Congress to help ensure allocation of funding for the uninsured, and therefore sustain the equity-driven COVID-19 response and help protect patients’ access to pharmacy-based care.
NACDS is also engaging media on the issue, urging that inaction at this pivotal time could set the nation back, leave the nation less prepared and cost the nation more lives:
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacies and pharmacy teams have worked hard to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Americans. In fact, according to government statistics:
- more than 40% of those vaccinated at pharmacies were from racial and ethnic minority groups;
- half of pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination sites are located in areas with high social vulnerability;
- pharmacies provide more than 20,000 COVID-19 testing sites nationwide, and 70% of such sites are in areas with moderate to severe social vulnerability.
More information about NACDS’ lessons and recommendations from the pandemic can be found at www.NACDS.org/COVID-19.
