HCAOA Meets with White House COVID Response Team Lead

​Last week, HCAOA CEO Vicki Hoak met with Dr. Thomas Tsai, senior policy advisor for the White House COVID Testing and Treatment program, about COVID and home care as the nation heads into cold and flu season.  

Tsai, a surgeon and health policy researcher at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and faculty member at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was selected to serve as senior policy advisor for the COVID-19 response last April.
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During the meeting, Tsai described the White House Response Team’s focus on testing and treatment, then urged home care providers to assist the Team by encouraging their clients to develop a Personal Action Plan.
 
In the Personal Action Plan, home care clients should outline their vaccination status, as well as plans for testing and treatment. This Plan should convey information about the need to test for COVID-19 if there is an exposure or symptoms, as well as the importance of seeing a health care practitioner to receive treatment, if needed.
 
Tsai reiterated that Medicare will pay for 8 over-the-counter COVID tests each month. For more information on Medicare coverage of COVID tests, click here: Coronavirus Test Coverage (medicare.gov).
 
Home care providers are encouraged to provide this information to their clients and families.
 
Regarding treatment of COVID-19, a recent report discusses the value of Paxlovid and its impact on reducing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Read more here: Paxlovid Significantly Reduces COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths
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