200th Podcast Interview: Dr. Rishi Desai Discusses the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 13th)
www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com
Listen Now Now, exactly one month after President Trump declared a national emergency, the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been largely inept. As of April 12th, the pandemic has infected over 560,000 Americans constituting slightly more than 30% of the world’s total number of infections. The US accounts for 5% of the world’s population, however, it has suffered 20% of worldwide deaths, more than 22,000 (a number that is substantially underestimated), or more than any other country. Comparatively, Germany has suffered far fewer infections and deaths per capita due in part to early and widespread testing, a capable health care model (Germany has even been accepting COVID-19 patients from Italy, Spain and elsewhere), a population that has uniformly observed social distancing guidelines (and is advantaged by having a chancellor with a Ph.D. in chemistry). Among other failures, the federal government has not taken leadership in acquiring necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supplies forcing states to competitively bid, i.e., pay inflated prices, for the them. Still fewer than 1% of the US population has been tested, in part because the president failed to deliver on his March 13th promise to establish drive-through testing sites, causing former CMS Administrator, Dr. Don Berwick, to conclude, “we’re in a lot more trouble than we need to be" because "we are flying blind unless we find a way to find the people who are infected.” Concerning Congressional efforts, this past Friday HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced he was awarding $30 billion of the $100 billion in grant moneys authorized under the March 27th CARES Act to support provider response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite noting in his press press release theses monies were being distributed in a “fair” manner, Kentucky, the home of Senate Majority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell, received $311,000 per COVID-19 case, while New York, the home state of Senate Minority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer, received $11,800 per case.
200th Podcast Interview: Dr. Rishi Desai Discusses the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 13th)
200th Podcast Interview: Dr. Rishi Desai…
200th Podcast Interview: Dr. Rishi Desai Discusses the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 13th)
Listen Now Now, exactly one month after President Trump declared a national emergency, the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been largely inept. As of April 12th, the pandemic has infected over 560,000 Americans constituting slightly more than 30% of the world’s total number of infections. The US accounts for 5% of the world’s population, however, it has suffered 20% of worldwide deaths, more than 22,000 (a number that is substantially underestimated), or more than any other country. Comparatively, Germany has suffered far fewer infections and deaths per capita due in part to early and widespread testing, a capable health care model (Germany has even been accepting COVID-19 patients from Italy, Spain and elsewhere), a population that has uniformly observed social distancing guidelines (and is advantaged by having a chancellor with a Ph.D. in chemistry). Among other failures, the federal government has not taken leadership in acquiring necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supplies forcing states to competitively bid, i.e., pay inflated prices, for the them. Still fewer than 1% of the US population has been tested, in part because the president failed to deliver on his March 13th promise to establish drive-through testing sites, causing former CMS Administrator, Dr. Don Berwick, to conclude, “we’re in a lot more trouble than we need to be" because "we are flying blind unless we find a way to find the people who are infected.” Concerning Congressional efforts, this past Friday HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced he was awarding $30 billion of the $100 billion in grant moneys authorized under the March 27th CARES Act to support provider response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite noting in his press press release theses monies were being distributed in a “fair” manner, Kentucky, the home of Senate Majority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell, received $311,000 per COVID-19 case, while New York, the home state of Senate Minority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer, received $11,800 per case.