Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare
As part of President Biden’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan to help America move forward safely, the Biden-Harris Administration is launching a nationwide Test to Treat Initiative this week so Americans can rapidly access needed COVID-19 treatments. Through this program, people who test positive for COVID-19 will be able to visit hundreds of local pharmacy-based clinics and federally-qualified community health centers (FHQCs), and residents of long-term care facilities will in one stop, be assessed by a qualified health care provider who can prescribe antiviral pills on the spot. This ensures that, if people who are at high risk for developing severe disease test positive and if administration of an antiviral is appropriate, they can get treatment quickly and easily. The program is run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and includes a direct allocation of antiviral pills to participating clinics, centers, and facilities.
“Our mission remains to protect the health and wellbeing of every American,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Tackling barriers to testing and treatments remains a priority for us, including making sure people can access these tools for free, wherever they are, and even if they don’t have health insurance. This important Test to Treat Initiative will help more at-risk people get the care they need if they get sick.”
In addition to vaccines, HHS has worked to invest in and purchase a broad variety of COVID-19 treatments and therapies to help protect Americans from COVID-19. The Test to Treat Initiative will also include new actions to educate the public about the availability of new treatments and the importance of starting them soon after the onset of symptoms; and provide information to health care providers about these new treatments.
The above HHS News Release was posted March 8, 2022.
A Fact Sheet (2 pages) about this initiative is found here.
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