The White House’s COVID-19 czar said federal response efforts could be disrupted if Congress refuses to approve additional funding that was dropped in a must-pass spending bill last week.
COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said during AHIP’s virtual health policy conference Monday that additional funds are needed to stay ahead of future variants of the virus even as cases plummet.
“Without more funding, we could lose the ability to maintain the testing capacity we built,” Zients said. “The supply of monoclonal antibodies would run out and we could not have money for additional vaccines down the road, including if we need a variant-specific vaccine.”
The White House had asked Congress for $22.5 billion to help fund new therapeutics and diagnostics as well as other supplies and international assistance. That figure was whittled down by Congress to $15.6 billion, but Democrats scrapped the funding in total after concerns from Republicans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a separate bill to fund the relief.
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Zients added that the lack of congressional funding could hasten the government’s transition away from purchasing supplies and products.
“When will we transition programs to the commercial market,” Zients said. “It is our belief that any transition should take place in an orderly, collaborative and thoughtful manner.”
Additional money from Congress could ensure there is a “runway” for the transition.
“Without it, these could happen much more abruptly,” Zients said.
Zients also did not say how the transition to the commercial market will be affected by the fact that several COVID-19 treatments are still under emergency use approval that could affect coverage decisions by Medicare.
For example, Medicare Part D plans don’t pay for drugs with an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, which some treatments are still operating under.