Harvard Faculty and Public Policy Experts Talk Health Care and Polarization at HSPH Event
Joanne Kenen ’79, bottom left, health care editor-at-large for Politico, moderated the discussion, which featured, clockwise from top left, Robert J. Blendon, a professor at the School of Public Health; Guy-Uriel E. Charles, a law professor at Duke University; David C. King, a senior lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School; and Sabrina Corlette ’94, a research professor at Georgetown University.
Harvard faculty and public policy experts discussed health care policy in an era of extreme partisan polarization at an event hosted by the Harvard School of Public Health, Politico, and The Commonwealth Fund on Wednesday.
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A Democratic presidential administration. A Democrat-controlled Congress. A conservative Supreme Court. What are the likely implications for health and rights as these three powerful entities intersect under the Biden administration? A cadre of experts will examine a range of issues from the Affordable Care Act, to voting rights, to gun safety.
For background to the discussion, The Forum event will draw on a March report in JAMA on how U.S. health policy may evolve, given the sharp partisan divide in the U.S. Congress. Though Democrats have control over the three bodies of national government, their vote margins are slim in the Senate and House, and this will impact some of the outcomes of President Biden’s new initiatives.
Dive Brief:
A trade group representing laboratories including LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics has asked President Joe Biden to make more money available to test uninsured people for COVID-19.
The federal government is currently supporting the testing of uninsured people through a $2 billion fund. Yet the fund is almost depleted, leading the American Clinical Laboratory Association to write to Biden to request more money.
ACLA also said its members have seen health plans deny more than 1 million COVID-19 PCR tests since June and coverage uncertainty has created barriers for accessing diagnostics. The trade group wants Biden to close testing coverage loopholes to ensure access to COVID-19 diagnostics.