Biden’s $1.5b Long COVID Office Going to Work--Allocates $45m to Expand Access for Long COVID Patients

Under the leadership of Admiral Rachel L. Levine, M.D., TrialSite reported that the Biden administration established a $1.5 billion Office of Long COVID due to glaring needs associated with that condition. With access to capital within the federal government, competition for oversight, and extending vision led Levine’s group to lead this effort, over groups such as the National Institutes of Health. TrialSite reports that the group is starting to put the public funds to work, in what appear to be constructive and proactive ways. As mentioned, this large pool of money was potentially headed to the National Institutes of Health ecosystem, but Levine and Xavier Becerra, Secretary Department of Health and Human Services, and others were concerned that the office needed a different, more holistic vantage and mission. While the outlay is nowhere near enough, the leadership at HHS, at least when it comes to thinking about the paramount problem of Long COVID, appear to be looking in the right direction. Why? Because of the complexity of the conditions, Levine and colleagues in HHS correctly have identified the need for person-centered, coordinated care, which includes behavioral health and social supports. Funding will help implement and evaluate models for delivering comprehensive, coordinated, person-centered care to people with Long COVID. TrialSite cautiously commends Levine and the team but encourages that these grants also investigate care for longVax (injuries associated with the COVID-19 vaccines) in parallel.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), announced nine grant awards of $1 million each for up to 5 years to support existing multidisciplinary Long COVID clinics across the country to expand access to comprehensive, coordinated, and person-centered care for people with Long COVID, particularly underserved, rural, vulnerable, and minority populations that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of Long COVID.