Vaccines are essential for producing widespread immunity to the coronavirus. However, medicines that can treat Covid-19 are also important in combating pandemics. This is especially true in places where many people have not been vaccinated and have not been boosted. These individuals may benefit from treatment if they become ill. Others, such as those with weakened immunity, may need additional help to combat the disease.
Unfortunately, almost every step in the route that Americans may get these medicines seems to be designed so that it doesn’t happen (which makes vaccination even more important).
In the first place, the treatments we use are very useful, but in some respects they are not ideal. The new Covid-19 therapy course requires taking 30 Paxlovid or 40 molnupiravir, which can be difficult for many.
Paxlovid seems to reduce the chance of death by more than 85%, but recent data show that molnupiravir also seems to be not working well and can probably reduce death by only 30%. There is also concern that molnupiravir may lead to new mutants, depending on how it works.
However, it is important to have medicines, especially highly effective medicines like Paxlovid. And for these medicines to be successful, they must be taken correctly. People need to start them within 5 days of infection, and due to defects in our testing system and other health care problems, it is difficult to start treatment immediately.
Let’s start with the diagnosis. If you feel sick, you need a coronavirus test. PCR tests will probably take at least a day or two to return results, and that is whether you can find the test. Another method is to use a home antigen test. Like everything else, these tests are lacking when people need them most. When the family signs up for the website, the government sends some of it to the family for free, but at the moment only four are available per household.
Further testing at home costs money. The Biden administration has promised to cover the costs with insurance (up to eight times a month), but the promises often require you to pay at your own expense and get a refund later.
And that’s if you have insurance. For those who don’t, the government plans to make the test available on sites in poorly serviced communities, but to get some, know when people are in and You need to have the ability to pick them up. Uninsured people will probably find it most difficult to do this.
If the test is positive, you cannot go directly to the pharmacy for medication like the test. You need a prescription for your medicine, but often you need to see a doctor. It assumes you have a doctor (many do not have a doctor), and there are appointments available. Prior to the pandemic, less than half of people in the United States were able to make same-day or next-day appointments with their healthcare providers when they were ill.
However, if you are lucky enough to get through this gauntlet, you will need to fill out a prescription. Most insurance limits where you can pay your medicine, and it hits or misses whether the pharmacy has medicine in stock. If not, I hope it will be a few days later, but they are precious days.
Few people understand that much of the health care system in the United States is set up to make it difficult for people to get medical care. This is an attempt to reduce overall medical costs. Therefore, your insurance is likely to be more deductible than before, and more visits will come at your own expense or joint insurance. However, as poor people struggle to cover these costs, this exacerbates inequality and makes it harder for those in need of help to get it.
This turns out to work with Covid-19 treatment. A recent study examined how efficient and effective Medicare beneficiaries (all elderly) received monoclonal antibody therapy against Covid from 2020 to 2021. We found that those at highest risk were least likely to be treated, mainly because it was difficult to navigate these hurdles within 10 days of an infection that needed treatment. ..
You don’t have to do this. The government, like any other country, can continue to send free antigen tests to everyone. Doctors can prescribe pill packs to high-risk individuals, as with EpiPen. This allows you to start dosing immediately if your home test is positive. The pharmacist can discuss with the patient whether the pill is safe for the patient and, if the patient qualifies, distribute the pill pack without a prescription. Insurance companies can change cost sharing requirements to motivate sick people to treat serious illnesses inevitably.
Making such changes is not easy. Prior to the pandemic, pregnancy potential was one of the few “conditions” that allowed home testing and diagnosis. Such tests were strongly opposed by many doctors and other medical systems. Physician groups have also repeatedly fought to empower pharmacies to provide care. Who will pay for them, even if we are willing to make changes? Our fragmented multi-payer system is not equipped to think and act collectively.
Some of these treatments, such as vaccines, can save lives. They may not yet improve things enough here in the United States. But that’s not because the medicine doesn’t work. That’s because our healthcare system isn’t.
