Bipartisan King-Murkowski bill allocates testing resources for communities most at-risk

The American Diabetes Association® (ADA), the nation’s leading organization for all people living with diabetes, announced its strong support for the COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act in a letter to Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who introduced the bill. The ADA also called on all Members of Congress to support this important legislation.

The bill ensures that local organizations get the resources they need to mobilize testing and contact tracing efforts in hot spots and underserved areas hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the ADA’s call for increased testing for vulnerable populations, the bill provides an opportunity for community health centers, hospitals that serve low-income communities, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and academic medical centers to apply for coronavirus testing and tracing grants. These grants will offer critical support in communities with the fewest resources, highest rates of COVID-19 complications, and often, highest diabetes incidence.

“People with diabetes already face a greater risk in the wake of the pandemic—according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 40 percent of individuals who have died from COVID-19 had diabetes,” said Tracey Brown, CEO of the ADA. “Because diabetes incidence is higher in low-income areas and communities of color, the tragic reality is that those who face the greatest threat are also the least likely to have access to the resources they need to survive this crisis. Services like contact tracing and diagnostic testing are no exception, and we’re excited to see this important legislation introduced at such a crucial time for the diabetes community,” Brown said. 

Diabetes is the most common chronic condition in the U.S., with 122 million Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes today. In addition to diabetes rates being inversely related to income, the condition is also more common among minority communities. People of color are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes or other related underlying conditions as white Americans.
 

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