Washington, DC – Today America’s Physician Groups (APG) joined nearly 50 leading healthcare organizations and other groups calling on Congress to dedicate strong federal funding for COVID-19 testing that is critically needed to reopen the country.
“We all share the common goal of safely reopening our economy and returning to work, school, and our daily activities,” said APG President and CEO Donald Crane. “To do this, we need to greatly increase access to COVID-19 testing to help prevent the spread of the virus. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to worsen around the country, increased federal funding is absolutely critical to meet the escalating demand for COVID-19 testing.”
Some highlights from the letter:
· “Swift action is needed to ensure that every American, especially essential workers, frontline healthcare physicians and other clinicians and those at disproportionate risk for COVID-19 have access to vital COVID-19 testing, whether for diagnostic, occupational, return-to-school, public health or virus monitoring purposes.”
· “Given what we know about this virus and the risk of spread by individuals without symptoms, our response to COVID-19 comes down to two essential elements – we must be able to quickly diagnose the virus, and we need to proactively screen to prevent and mitigate its spread.”
· “Dedicated federal funding, and clear coverage guidelines are critical for the scale and degree of testing that is needed to reopen, to reduce the risk of transmission, and to understand the progression of the disease and aid in development of better treatments and vaccines.”
Click here for a copy of the letter.
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About America’s Physician Groups
America’s Physician Groups is a not-for-profit, mission-driven association organized to assist accountable physician groups to improve the quality and value of healthcare provided to patients. America’s Physician Groups represents and supports physician groups that assume responsibility for clinically integrated, comprehensive, and coordinated healthcare on behalf of our patients. In California, APG represents over 180 physician groups across the state. Visit us at www.apg.org.
Contact: Greg Phillips, APG Director of Communications, 202-770-1901, gphillips@apg.org
