By: Sally Goza, MD, FAAP, President
“Today, after months of uncertainty and financial instability throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) finally received the news we’ve been waiting for: many pediatricians are now eligible for financial relief from the federal government.
“The Academy has been fighting for this funding since the pandemic began and we are pleased to see our advocacy reflected in today’s announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“We have been working alongside HHS, urging the swift, direct allocation of funding to pediatricians, including subspecialists. We pushed for the funding to account for lost revenue and higher expenses attributable to COVID-19, with as few barriers as possible, and to go to all pediatricians, regardless of Medicaid participation and without cumbersome reporting requirements.
“While today’s announcement brings a measure of relief to pediatricians worried about their financial viability in the short term, important questions remain about whether this funding will offer the breadth and scope of relief our members so desperately need. We will work to clarify with HHS the details of this $15 billion funding and to ensure it reaches as many pediatricians as possible as quickly as possible. Part of that effort will be to ensure our members are not needlessly excluded, especially those who have been left out of past rounds of funding or may have received negligible amounts from the fund.
“All pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgeons have risen to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring children can get needed care even when practices have faced major financial distress. At a time when childhood vaccination rates have dropped to dangerously low levels, pediatricians have done all we can to assure parents that we are open for business and that it is safe and important for their children to come in for immunizations and all other needed care.
“We look forward to getting the word out to our members about this funding opportunity and will do all we can to ensure that pediatric practices are able to continue serving families in our communities.”
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org and follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds