Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Biden has signed several Executive Orders directing new approaches to the nation's response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. These executive actions generally provide broad strategic guidance and direction to agencies for implementation, and much of the specific work to implement these directives will take place at federal agencies through future rulemaking and/or guidance.

The ACC Advocacy Team has developed the following overview of key Executive Orders affecting cardiovascular care and ACC members:

Executive Order on Improving and Expanding Access to Care and Treatments for COVID-19
This order aims to accelerate the development of novel therapies to treat COVID-19, including instituting large-scale randomized trials, identifying optimal clinical management strategies, and supporting the most promising treatments that can be easily manufactured, distributed, and administered, both domestically and internationally. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will issue recommendations on how states and health care providers can increase the capacity of their health care workforces to address the COVID-19 pandemic. It will facilitate the equitable and effective distribution of therapeutics and bolster clinical care capacity where needed to support patient care.

Executive Order on a Sustainable Public Health Supply Chain
This order directs immediate actions to secure supplies necessary for the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities, as well as health care workers, health systems and patients to respond to COVID-19. Supplies include personal protective equipment (PPE) and resources to effectively produce and distribute tests and vaccines at scale. The order also takes steps to address the pricing of supplies and whether supplies are threatened for the purpose of hoarding or price gouging. It also provides for the development of a strategy to design, build, and sustain a long-term capability in the U.S. to manufacture supplies for future pandemics and biological threats.

Executive Order on Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery
This order establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to provide recommendations for mitigating the health inequities caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and for preventing inequities in the future. The heads of all agencies with authorities or responsibilities relating to the pandemic response and recovery will consult with the Task Force to strengthen equity data collection, reporting, and use related to COVID-19.

Executive Order on Establishing the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board and Ensuring a Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats
This order establishes a COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board to promote COVID-19 diagnostic, screening and surveillance testing. It also facilitates COVID-19 testing free of charge to those who lack comprehensive health insurance and clarifies group health plans' and health insurance issuers' obligations to provide coverage for testing.

Executive Order on Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats
This order take steps to make data relevant to public health threats publicly available and accessible. Representatives from relevant agencies will coordinate the agencies' collection, provision, and analysis of data, including key equity indicators, as well as their sharing of such data with state, local, tribal and territorial authorities. Heads of agencies will review the effectiveness, interoperability, and connectivity of public health data systems supporting the detection of and response to public health threats and develop a plan for advancing innovation in public health data and analytics in the U.S.

The ACC looks forward to working with the Biden Administration on the regulatory front and the new Congress to advance other legislative solutions protecting heart health and addressing the COVID-19 public health emergency. The full list of Executive Orders are available on the White House website.

ACC's Advocacy staff will continue to track these and other Executive Orders and subsequent regulatory and programmatic changes that could impact cardiovascular care and ACC members.

Clinical Topics: COVID-19 Hub

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, COVID-19, Public Health, Personal Protective Equipment, Health Workforce, Insurance, Health, Delivery of Health Care, Cardiology Magazine

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