On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to (20-2) to advance the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act). The legislation, introduced by Chair, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ranking Member, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), includes measures such as strengthening the nation’s public health workforce, improving biosecurity related to biomedical research, and creating a new office in the White House to oversee pandemic prevention and preparedness. The legislative text of the PREVENT Pandemics Act introduced last week can be found here and the text of the managers’ amendment the Committee passed can be found here.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing titled, “Prescription Drug Price Inflation: An Urgent Need to Lower Drug Prices in Medicare.” The hearing focused on the need to and the benefits of lowering prescription drug prices. During the hearing, Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) moved to revitalize sweeping drug pricing efforts, including allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies and caping out-of-pocket costs for seniors in Medicare Part D. MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on 22 medical innovation bills that the Committee is considering attaching to FDA user fee legislation. These bills include H.R. 5585, the “Advanced Research Project Agency–Health Act” and H.R. 6000, the “Cures 2.0 Act.” In her opening statement, Chairwoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said that Fred Upton (R-MI) and Diana DeGette’s (D-CO) Cures 2.0 legislation would “ensure that our federal public health agencies are working seamlessly together to move new cures through the research stage all the way to FDA approval and Medicare coverage.” Additionally, she said that the ARPA-H legislation would “establish ARPA-H as an independent agency within HHS with a presidentially appointed director who would have the authority to approve and terminate project funding, establish milestones, and coordinate with other health agencies, including NIH.” Ranking Member of the full Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) expressed accountability concerns and the “lack of a clear mission” for ARPA-H. MCRT’s full summary of the hearing can be found here.

The White House on Tuesday renewed its call for lawmakers to authorize new funding for the government’s COVID-19 response and warned of the consequences if lawmakers failed to do so. Without funding, the Biden Administration said the “United States will not have enough additional boosters or variant specific vaccines, if needed, for all Americans.” The Administration also announced that the federal government is canceling its planned purchase of additional monoclonal antibody treatments and will run out of supplies to send to states as soon as late May. The push comes after Congress failed to include the Biden Administration’s request for $22.5 billion in new COVID-19 funding in the FY22 omnibus funding package President Biden signed into law on Tuesday.

The Senate voted 57-40 to pass a resolution (S.J. Res. 37) that would nullify the rule issued by the CDC on February 3, 2021, that requires the use of face masks on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Those in favor of the resolution hope the action will encourage the Biden Administration to rethink the requirement, which was extended by the Transportation Security Administration to April 18. The resolution now heads to the House where it is likely to be defeated if brought to a vote. The White House has also pledged to veto the resolution if it passes.

The Biden Administration announced that White House COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients will leave his role next month, after serving in it for more than a year. The White House released a statement praising Zients’ work and said that COVID-19 vaccination rates grew from 1% to almost 80% during his time in the position. Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, was announced by the Biden Administration as his replacement.

On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to (20-2) to advance the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act). The legislation, introduced by Chair, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ranking Member, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), includes measures such as strengthening the nation’s public health workforce, improving biosecurity related to biomedical research, and creating a new office in the White House to oversee pandemic prevention and preparedness. The legislation also includes the ARPA-H Act, to establish the Advanced Research Projects Authority for Health (ARPA-H). Originally proposed in President Biden’s FY22 budget and funded in the recently signed into law omnibus appropriations package, ARPA-H would aim to support “cutting-edge, high-reward” biomedical research.

The legislative text of the PREVENT Pandemics Act introduced last week can be found here and the text of the managers’ amendment the Committee passed can be found here. The text of the following amendments the Committee passed are also available below:

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing titled, “Prescription Drug Price Inflation: An Urgent Need to Lower Drug Prices in Medicare.” The hearing focused on the need to and the benefits of lowering prescription drug prices. During the hearing, Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) moved to revitalize sweeping drug pricing efforts, including allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies and caping out-of-pocket costs for seniors in Medicare Part D. MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on 22 medical innovation bills that the Committee is considering attaching to FDA user fee legislation. These bills include H.R. 5585, the “Advanced Research Project Agency–Health Act” and H.R. 6000, the “Cures 2.0 Act.” In her opening statement, Chairwoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said that Fred Upton (R-MI) and Diana DeGette’s (D-CO) Cures 2.0 legislation would “ensure that our federal public health agencies are working seamlessly together to move new cures through the research stage all the way to FDA approval and Medicare coverage.” Additionally, she said that the ARPA-H legislation would “establish ARPA-H as an independent agency within HHS with a presidentially appointed director who would have the authority to approve and terminate project funding, establish milestones, and coordinate with other health agencies, including NIH.” Ranking Member of the full Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) expressed accountability concerns and the “lack of a clear mission” for ARPA-H. MCRT’s full summary of the hearing can be found here.

White House COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients to Step Down from Role; Dr. Ashish Jha Named as Replacement

White House COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients will leave his role next month, after serving in it for more than a year. The White House released a statement praising Zients’ work and said that COVID-19 vaccination rates grew from 1% to almost 80% during his time in the position. Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, was announced by the Biden Administration as his replacement. Jha is also a practicing physician and “public health expert.” The Administration said that as we “enter a new moment in the pandemic, Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job.” The statement from the White House can be found here.

The White House on Tuesday renewed its call for lawmakers to authorize new funding for the government’s COVID-19 response and warned of the consequences if lawmakers failed to do so. Without funding, the Biden Administration said the “United States will not have enough additional boosters or variant specific vaccines, if needed, for all Americans.” The Administration also announced that the federal government is canceling its planned purchase of additional monoclonal antibody treatments and will run out of supplies to send to states as soon as late May. The push comes after Congress failed to include the Biden Administration’s request for $22.5 billion in new COVID-19 funding in the FY22 omnibus funding package President Biden signed into law on Tuesday.

This week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its March 2022 Report to Congress, outlining its recommended Medicare payment updates for calendar year 2023. The report evaluated the near-term and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Medicare program. MedPAC discussed the “sobering” disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on Medicare beneficiaries. While the Commission does not expect the pandemic to have a significant long-term impact on the program, it urges attention be paid to the program’s finances. It reports that the program’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is expected to become insolvent by 2026, due to the “declining ratio of workers to Medicare beneficiaries.” MedPAC said that one of the “most powerful ways” Medicare can control spending growth is by “setting prices.” The full report can be found here and the executive summary can be found here.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 57-40 to pass a resolution (S.J. Res. 37) that would nullify the rule issued by the CDC on February 3, 2021, that requires the use of face masks on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Those in favor of the resolution hope the action will encourage the Biden Administration to rethink the requirement, which was extended by the Transportation Security Administration to April 18. The resolution now heads to the House where it is likely to be defeated if brought to a vote. The White House has also pledged to veto the resolution if it passes.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent guidance to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would review all existing regulations and other agency actions to determine if they are consistent with the “policy to protect and strengthen the [Affordable Care Act (ACA)].” The guidance was directed by President Biden’s January Executive Order 14009, Strengthening Medicaid and the ACA, which calls on the departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor to review Medicaid and ACA regulatory actions and determine if they “undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee - Hearing

Full Committee Hearing: "Strengthening Federal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs: Opportunities, Challenges, and Emerging Issues."

Wednesday, March 23 at 10:00 AM ET

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