Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the distinction between the Test to Treat Initiative and the Long-Term Care Partner Program.
Long-term care operators would have access to COVID-19 treatments faster for residents who test positive under a new White House initiative.
The Biden administration on Wednesday released its National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, which provides a roadmap for fighting COVID-19 so individuals can get back to normal routines nationally. The plan focuses on four goals: protection from and treating COVID-19, preparing for new variants, preventing economic and educational shutdowns and vaccinations.
For the first, the administration plans to launch the “Test to Treat Initiative,” which ensures rapid treatment immediately after getting sick. A related, although separate program pledges to provide a “one-stop solution in long-term care facilities.”
The “Long-Term Care Partner Program” will allow facilities to order COVID-19 medications directly from a federal stockpile through their long-term care pharmacy partners, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. This effectively reestablishes the federal ordering portal originally available for monoclonal antibodies prior to the fall of 2021, industry advocates said.
Long-term care providers and pharmacists have previously criticized the federal government’s response for getting necessary medications to facilities.
“As of August of 2021, the allocation and distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments, and more recently, the antiviral medications has been poor — focusing on states and jurisdictions instead of providing a federal solution for long-term care,” Chad Worz, PharmD, ASCP’s chief executive, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News earlier this week.
