President Biden has pledged to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst public health crisis America has faced in a century. Fortunately, the previous administration and America’s governors enacted groundbreaking reforms that offer Biden important lessons on how to effectively combat COVID-19 and increase access to more affordable healthcare in the long run.
When the pandemic arrived in the United States, hospitals struggled to supply enough beds and equipment and hire enough frontline healthcare workers to care for growing waves of infected patients. This strain on resources forced sick patients to wait longer for care and increased the risk of the virus spreading to other patients.
The department of Health and Human Services took groundbreaking steps to empower providers to remotely treat patients through telehealth. For starters, the department suspended burdensome regulations that prevented patients from virtually meeting their healthcare providers over Zoom and Skype from the comfort of their homes, allowing providers to safely consult and screen patients experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
This extraordinary regulatory rollback freed healthcare workers to deliver safe and effective telehealth care like never before. Prior to COVID-19, only 13,000 Medicare enrollees on average received virtual care every week. After these reforms took effect, that number increased to 1.7 million. By April, healthcare workers delivered nearly half of all primary care to seniors through telehealth.
The administration also removed bureaucratic hurdles standing in the way of new COVID-19 tests and vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration allowed laboratories to develop and offer tests as soon as they submitted their applications for approval. The FDA also allowed pharmaceutical companies to begin manufacturing vaccines while they performed clinical trials. These changes rapidly accelerated the availability of new COVID-19 tests and vaccines.
Federal and state policymakers took steps to allow health care providers to deliver essential in-person care to infected patients. Before 2020, many state and federal regulations prohibited nurses from providing care unless they worked under a physician’s supervision, even though they are fully certified to deliver these treatments autonomously. These barriers severely limit access to healthcare, especially in underserved areas facing staff shortages.
Fortunately, policymakers around the country suspended these harmful laws to unlock essential care to patients with COVID-19. Since March, governors in 20 states temporarily eased or eliminated restrictions requiring physician supervision for nurse practitioners and other advanced practice registered nurses. In addition, HHS waived rules mandating nurse anesthetists practice under a physician’s supervision.
After these reforms took effect, nurses could finally deliver high-quality care in communities and facilities that most needed their help. A June 2020 analysis by researchers at the University of Illinois estimated that the elimination of scope of practice requirements decreased COVID-19 deaths by 8%.
Unfortunately, these beneficial reforms will remain in effect only while the federal government officially considers COVID-19 a national emergency. Once the Biden administration declares the pandemic over, many harmful and unnecessary healthcare barriers will return and deprive patients of essential services.
As Congress and the new administration work to bring the pandemic to an end, they should permanently codify the HHS and FDA reforms and empower health workers, labs, and drug developers to deliver high-quality tests, treatments, and vaccines on a long-term basis.
Federal policymakers should expand on state scope-of-practice reforms and authorize nurse practitioners to autonomously care for Medicare recipients. Not only will this ensure that we’re better prepared for future public health crises, but it will drive down costs and give patients readier access to quality care they can afford.
Our harrowing experience fighting COVID-19 offers important lessons. When America’s essential healthcare workers are unshackled by outdated and unnecessary regulations, they will rise to the challenge and deliver lifesaving care to more people. They simply need lawmakers to let them.
Charlie Katebi is a health policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity.
