Just the Facts: Four COVID-19 Resources You Can Trust
Finding information about the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t exactly been difficult over the past 12 months. Just about every organization in the country – from government agencies and media outlets to companies, schools and community groups – has issued at least one COVID-related pronouncement. However, the wealth of information at our fingertips can be confusing. What information can you trust, and what can you do when faced with seemingly contradictory “facts” from different sources?
Here at Real World Health Care, we turn to trusted resources when we need information on COVID-19 and other diseases and medical conditions. These resources base their publicly facing information on sound, evidence-based science and continually update their web sites and materials to provide the latest statistics and guidance.
While the following list is not an exhaustive one, these four government agencies are among the most reliable sources of COVID-19 information and should be among your go-to resources when you need information on the pandemic. For information on when you may expect to be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, the best source of information will be your state or county department of health.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. It works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, whether they start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack. CDC conducts critical science, provides health information that protects the nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when threats arise.
Visit the CDC web site to learn about COVID-19, what CDC is doing to protect and prepare communities, the benefits of getting a COVID-19 vaccine, and information about symptoms, testing, quarantining and mask wearing.
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
CMS is also part of the Department of Health and Human Services. With oversight of the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, CMS has transformed the nation’s health care system for more than five decades. It empowers patients to work with their doctors and make health care decisions that are best for them. To help people be active health care consumers, CMS provides meaningful information about quality and costs and supports innovative approaches to improving health care quality, accessibility and affordability.
The CMS Coronavirus Disease 2019 web site offers information for patients and providers alike, including vaccine policies and guidance and tips for staying healthy.
- National Institutes of Health
NIH is the nation’s medical research agency, making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. The NIH seeks to enhance health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability. It also works to improve the quality and usefulness of information about science and health for the public.
The NIH’s COVID-19 web site focuses on the organization’s strategic response to the pandemic, development of COVID-19 tests, information about treatments and vaccines, details on clinical trials, and the latest news and research initiatives.
- S. Department of Health & Human Services
HHS works to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans by providing effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health and social services.
HHS offers a number of online COVID-19 resources, including vaccine updates, a searchable index of COVID-19 testing sites and updated news.
A Message from our Sponsor
At the onset of the pandemic, the HealthWell Foundation implemented programs to provide financial assistance to individuals who were directly affected by COVID-19. Since launching their first COVID-19 fund in March 2020, the Foundation has served as a valuable, potentially lifesaving, resource to underinsured Americans by providing grants for reimbursement assistance for delivered food and medication and transportation costs to manage COVID-19, while maintaining social distancing protocols, including drive-thru testing, delivery of test kits and future treatments.
In addition, HealthWell recognized the critical, unmet, needs of individuals who had been laid off or furloughed as a result of the public health crisis and opened a second COVID-19 fund to provide up to $6,000 in financial assistance for 3 months following grant approval to eligible households which had annual incomes up to 500 percent of the federal poverty level prior to being laid off or furloughed. To qualify for a grant, the policyholder or covered member of the policy must have a diagnosis of cancer or chronic illness and must be in active treatment where disruption of therapy could cause serious, potentially life-threatening, consequences for the patient.
To learn more about the HealthWell Foundation and how you can support their COVID-19 relief funds, visit: www.HealthWellFoundation.org.