Ban on elective services disrupted routine health care for kids

According to the Associated Press,

A data snapshot from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, found that vaccinations, screening for childhood diseases, visits to the dentist and even mental health care dropped precipitously from March through May of this year, when doctors’ offices and hospitals put elective services on hold to confront the coronavirus.

This could be problematic. As a CMS Administrator, Seema Verna explains,

“The potential for increased outbreaks of infectious disease due to decreased vaccinations is real, and can result in decreased school attendance, decreased learning, and increased childhood illness in general,” the agency warned. “It is important for schools and families to catch up on well-child visits and ensure that children are up-to-date on their immunizations.”

A decline in access to routine care, unfortunately, hasn’t been limited to children. Adults have also delayed accessing care either because some services are unavailable, as hospitals have banned what they consider “elective procedures,” or due to a general fear of contracting the virus in hospital settings.

A lot of cancer patients, for instance, delayed screenings, checkups, and follow-up visits. This could mean increased mortality in the future.

Shutdowns come with costs

Optimal policymaking involves balancing costs and benefits. But for COVID-19, the cost of dealing with the pandemic — specifically through shutdowns — has been severely underestimated as opponents have argued that shutting down would only affect the economy. This belief has proven fallacious, however.

For one, a deteriorating economy has significant effects on health. But even setting that fact aside, as the evidence continues to show, shutting everything down to attend to the coronavirus pandemic has also brought considerable direct health consequences that will likely linger for the foreseeable future.

As the fight against COVID-19 continues, lawmakers need to acknowledge how destructive shutdowns have been (and will continue to be) not only for the economy but for other aspects of life and adjust policy appropriately.