Last month,  Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Don Bayer, and Lisa Blunt Rochester re-introduced the TREAT Long COVID Act, which would offer support to those with Long COVID in the form of increased access to medical care and treatment. You can find the Bill Summary here, and the full text here. Now we need to build support by encouraging our Representatives to show vocal support and co-sponsor the bill.

The TREAT Act would:

• Authorize the Department of Health & Human Services to award grants up to $2,000,000 to health care providers, including community health centers;
• Grant funding for the creation and expansion of multidisciplinary Long COVID clinics to address the physical and mental health needs of patients;
• Prioritize funding for health providers that plan to engage Long COVID patient organizations, medically underserved populations, and populations disproportionately impacted by COVID-19;
• Ensure that treatment is not denied based on insurance coverage, date or method of diagnosis, preexisting conditions, or previous hospitalization;
• Encourage ongoing medical training for physicians in Long COVID clinics and other health care workers serving patients; and
• Require grantees to submit an annual report on its activities that includes evaluations from patients.

The TREAT Long COVID Act has been endorsed by the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project, Body Politic, Patient-Led Research Collaborative, Utah COVID-19 Long Haulers, Access Living, National Health Council, American Physical Therapy Association, Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mbadika, Solve M.E., and Lakeshore Foundation.

Cosponsors include Mike Quigley (IL-05), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Katie Porter (CA-47), Judy Chu (CA-28), Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02), Ami Bera CA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-D), Adam Smith (WA-09), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Emanuel Cleaver II (MO-05), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), James McGovern (MA-02), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Cori Bush (MO-01), Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), David Trone (MD-06), and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20).

Special thanks to Long COVID Alliance for raising awareness about this bill.

Date of this letter campaign: June 2023

Updated status of this bill: On 5/12/23, the Committee on Energy and Commerce referred this bill to the Subcommittee on Health. For live updates, see the Congress.gov page for this bill.