A panel of public health experts tasked with analyzing the United States’ COVID-19 response concluded that federal health agencies should be given more power to better handle pandemics in the future.
The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a National Public Health System, a group consisting of current and former public health officials and scholars, released a report Tuesday blasting America’s pandemic response and the federalist healthcare system which separates the country from its European peers. The panel said the federal government, including both Congress and the executive branch, should rein in power from state and local health authorities and set stronger parameters on how they can operate in the future.
According to the commission, one key reason more than one million Americans have died of COVID-19 is that the United States doesn’t have a nationalized public healthcare system. “The United States should build a national public health system to promote and protect the health of every person, regardless of who they are and where they live,” the report reads.
The panel calls for Congress to increase public health funding and establish a new position at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which would oversee the development of a national healthcare system. It also calls for the president to narrow the acceptable uses for public health funds and to set new standards for the accreditation of local and state health authorities. (RELATED: The WHO Finally Admits The Lab Leak Might Be Worth Checking Out)
Among the chief complaints of the panel are that there isn’t a “single person or office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to lead and coordinate the nation’s public health efforts” and that Americans don’t trust the public health establishment due to racism and misinformation.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has been President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, and Dr. Ashish Jha is currently the leader of the administration’s COVID-19 response.
So this group wants to “overhaul” the US public health system by giving DC more power over state + local health jurisdictions
They say it’s mostly about setting data collection standards (and not issuing nationwide rules), but consider me skeptical!https://t.co/Xmzc9EuSVa
— Eric Ting (@_ericting) June 22, 2022
This commission will ignore every single issue underlying why the US response to the pandemic failed. Instead it will propose to concentrate public health power in the federal government so that in future, no state can opt out of a national lockdown.https://t.co/XGlkxzrT8f
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) June 21, 2022
Critics of the report accused it of advocating for a federal government power grab to consolidate control with a few officials, such as Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky. “This commission will ignore every single issue underlying why the US response to the pandemic failed,” tweeted Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. “Instead it will propose to concentrate public health power in the federal government so that in future, no state can opt out of a national lockdown.”