Few in the nonprofit world will be as affected by President-elect Biden’s inauguration as health-care organizations, which are eager to welcome a president who will take a science-based approach to the pandemic.
“You’ll see a completely different approach to Covid,” says Drew Altman, president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which focuses on national health issues. The concern about rolling out vaccines effectively may become so all-consuming that it drives high-level appointments and “sucks all the oxygen out of the room,” leaving little energy for other aspects of Biden’s health-care agenda, Altman says.
Still, Biden is expected to move quickly to roll back Trump administration changes that limited access to abortion at taxpayer-funded clinics. He is also expected to try to undo changes made by Trump that promoted short-term health-care plans that don’t cover pre-existing conditions.
More ambitious Biden goals that would require legislation — such as giving everyone a “public option” similar to Medicare and expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies — are likely off the table, Altman says.
“It’s time to lower expectations for the health-care agenda,” he says.
Foundations can play an important role in helping persuade people to comply with public-health measures related to Covid-19 and accept vaccines when they become available, Altman says. Foundations in conservative states — or with several Republican board members — may be reluctant now to support mask usage and other measures to limit the spread of the virus, he says, but that may change after Biden’s inauguration.
“Trump made it almost a partisan act to push public-health messages,” Altman says. “When Biden comes in, that should largely dissipate.”
Foundations can also support charities that help dispel myths about vaccines to encourage greater acceptance of vaccines in communities of color, particularly among Black people. Their historic mistreatment in the name of medical experimentation has created distrust of the health-care system. An October survey co-sponsored by Kaiser found that only half of Black adults said they would likely get vaccinated for the coronavirus, compared with two-thirds of white respondents.
“This is a role that is tailor-made for foundations if they’re willing to confront it,” Altman says. “Some foundations think this is just a medical issue. It’s not — this is a core issue of racial justice.”
If and when Biden has the opportunity to turn to other health priorities, he may take a more aggressive approach to combatting the opioid epidemic, which continues to ravage many rural areas.
“This is one of those health issues that have gotten lost in the shuffle,” says Faith Mitchell, a fellow at the Urban Institute who works on health policy. “If you think about the issues that Biden’s son [Hunter] has had with addiction and mental health, you can just guess that he would be very supportive.”
Hospital fundraising has been strong this year as people seek to support medical centers inundated with coronavirus patients. Alice Ayres, president of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, expects support to remain strong even as vaccines begin to roll out next year. “People have come to realize how critically important their hospitals are in this pandemic.”
