Policy

Summary

This section provides key findings and policy recommendations to address worrisome gaps in the federal government’s response to COVID-19. Three priority areas are identified: economic relief, health care, and public health. It advocates for the executive branch to play a stronger role and for Congress to expand financial assistance in these areas, both with a significantly greater focus on achieving equitable outcomes.

The goal of this sector is to provide federal policymakers with actionable proposals to reduce the social and economic impact of COVID-19, with a major aim of redressing the unacceptable disparities playing out in the disease’s burden.

Recommendations

• The opening of a special enrollment period to reduce the uninsured rate, creation of a support fund for frontline healthcare workers to explicitly honor their risks, and development of an equitable vaccine distribution plan.
• The allocation of funding to increase staffing in overwhelmed unemployment offices, greater relief for homeowners and renters, increased virtual learning opportunities for all students, and expand social assistance policies to cover both documented and undocumented immigrants.
• The allocation of additional funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local public health departments to support equitable testing, stronger federal coordination of states’ responses, and elevation of the CDC’s role in national communication.

Authors