DWINDLING FEDERAL FUNDING COULD STALL LONG COVID RESEARCH — The divided incoming Congress is unlikely to back federal requests for funds needed to bolster research into viable treatments for long Covid, Katherine reports. The backstory: Long Covid affects as many as 16 million people in the U.S. by some federal estimates. But without a clear understanding of the condition — which can cause symptoms like fatigue, difficulty breathing and brain fog — major drugmakers have yet to launch robust studies or other efforts into coming up with treatment. What's at stake: Though Congress directed the National Institutes of Health to allocate $1.15 billion to study the long-term effects of Covid-19 — including long Covid — for four years, most of that funding has gone toward understanding the cause of the persistent symptoms. Smaller biotech companies and scientists at research universities and medical centers are studying possible treatments. They're assessing whether existing therapies like Pfizer's Paxlovid, stimulants like Adderall and even dietary supplements can alleviate some symptoms of the disease's symptoms. Those studies, while a start, are too small to produce the robust data needed to find a new treatment. The Biden administration has asked Congress for more than $9 billion in additional funding for Covid-19 that would go toward next-generation vaccine development and long Covid research. But Republicans aren't likely to support the administration's call for more money for Covid — particularly after they rejected the administration's request for an additional $22 billion for pandemic response in March. Also: HHS released a new report Monday that focuses on the experiences of people living with long Covid-19 and offers recommendations on delivering care and support to individuals and families affected by the condition. LESS ACCESS TO CARE ALONG TEXAS BORDER — Residents of counties in Texas that border Mexico fare worse than those who reside in other states' border counties when it comes to health insurance and access to care, according to a new report from KFF . Eight million people live in the 44 counties in Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico, according to the report. Most of those counties are in Texas, where residents face greater barriers to accessing health care than residents of the state's nonborder areas. More than 75 percent of the residents in Texan border counties are Hispanic. Lack of coverage: One in three adults lacks coverage in border counties in Texas. The state hasn't implemented ACA Medicaid expansion, which leaves some 770,000 poor adults in the coverage gap across the state. But the rate is higher in the border areas due to lower rates of private insurance coverage and more residents not being eligible for Medicaid, according to the report. Other border states, by contrast, have no significant difference in coverage between border and nonborder areas. Not enough doctors: Residents in Texas borders also have far more limited access to doctors, including primary care physicians, OB-GYNs, dentists and emergency care providers. One-third of adults in Texas border counties say they're in "fair" or "poor" health compared with a quarter to a fifth of adults in the rest of the counties in the other four states.
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