Young, Kaine Introduce Bill to Support Americans Living with Long COVID

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced the Long COVID Support Act, bipartisan legislation to support Americans living with Long COVID. The bill would accelerate research on Long COVID and provide information to patients and medical providers about Long COVID.

“While the COVID pandemic has ended, many Americans who experienced a COVID infection continue to experience lingering neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental health symptoms. Senator Kaine and I share a desire to help our fellow citizens facing these challenges. Our bipartisan bill will increase research about the causes of Long COVID, provide resources to Long COVID patients and providers, and help identify best treatments,” said Senator Young.

“After hearing about Americans living with Long COVID not being believed, I decided to share my own story about my mild Long COVID symptoms so they would know there’s someone in Congress who is fighting for them. Since then, so many Americans have shared with me their experiences with Long COVID and the challenges they’ve faced accessing the support they need. I’m glad Senator Young is joining me in introducing this bipartisan bill to improve research and expand resources for those living with Long COVID,” said Senator Kaine.

Long COVID or post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems that people experience after being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. These symptoms range from mild to debilitating and can last for months and even years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that over 55% of adults in the U.S. report having had COVID-19, with over 28% of adults who had COVID-19 experiencing some form of Long COVID. Currently, 5.8% of Americans have Long COVID.

The Long COVID Support Act would:

• Accelerate Long COVID research by authorizing the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to centralize robust data-sets regarding patient experiences with Long COVID and related conditions for future research.
• Improve understanding of Long COVID treatment efficacy and disparities by authorizing HHS to study the health care system’s response to Long COVID and provide recommendations for how to improve that response.
• Educate Long COVID patients and medical providers through efforts to develop and disseminate information on common symptoms and treatment for Long COVID and related conditions.

Full text of the bill is available here.