Senate bill would provide $10B to fund research on long COVID

Washington — Legislation recently introduced in the Senate would provide $1 billion in mandatory funding per year for 10 years to the National Institutes of Health to support research on long COVID-19.

Sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Long COVID Research Moonshot Act of 2024 would direct NIH to establish a new research program with the goal of better understanding, preventing, diagnosing, managing and treating long COVID and its related conditions, a press release from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee states.

Symptoms of long COVID – regardless of age or severity of initial infection – can include fatigue, cognitive impairment (also known as “brain fog”), shortness of breath, muscle/joint pain, heart palpitations, sleep difficulties and mood changes.

Nationwide, more than 22 million adults are affected by the condition – and up to 4 million people are out of work because of it, the release notes, citing federal estimates. “For many, the change in job status can also affect health insurance, further complicating treatment options.”

The bill also would:

• Require NIH to establish a long-COVID database, advisory board and a new grant process that would accelerate clinical trials.
• Fund information gathering and public health education.
• Require any new treatments developed by NIH to be “reasonably priced so that every patient can receive it.”
• Fund multidisciplinary long-COVID clinics that provide comprehensive, coordinated care – especially in underserved, disproportionately impacted communities.
• Develop and implement best practices for clinical care and social services.

This bill is endorsed by more than 45 organizations, according to the release.

“For too long, millions of Americans suffering from long COVID have had their symptoms dismissed or ignored – by the medical community, by the media and by Congress,” said Sanders, who chairs the HELP Committee. “That is unacceptable and has got to change.”