Bracing For Next Pandemic: Senators Want To Investigate How Covid Was Handled

Stat: Key Senators Propose An Overhaul Of How The U.S. Prepares For Pandemics
A powerful, bipartisan duo of senators wants to empower Congress to ensure the government’s response to the next pandemic is far smoother than it was on Covid-19. One of the most significant policies in the plan, released in a draft on Tuesday, would create a 9/11-style bipartisan commission to formally investigate the United States’ pandemic response — a proposal that has failed to gain traction until now. Another would require Senate confirmation for the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The sweeping measure, which was in the works for nearly a year, is the product of negotiations between Senate health committee chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and ranking member Richard Burr (R-N.C.). (Cohrs, 1/25)

The Hill: HHS Secretary Under Fire For Being 'Invisible' Leader During Pandemic 
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra is under fire for what critics say is a lack of leadership as the Biden administration wrestles with the direction of its COVID-19 response. ... Public health messaging during a pandemic is complicated enough, but experts say the Biden administration as a whole needs to be better at making clear that the situation is evolving constantly. “Of all the HHS secretaries we’ve had, at least in the last multiple administrations, we’ve never had one that was a ghost when it came to a public health crisis. That’s what we have now: an invisible HHS secretary. Just when we need that person the most,” said Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. (Weixel, 1/26)

Confidence in the Biden administration sinks further —

The Washington Post: Americans Losing Confidence In Biden’s Handling Of Pandemic, Poll Shows
Americans are less confident in President Biden’s handling of the pandemic than they were nearly a year ago, according to results from a new Pew Research Center poll. In a national survey conducted Jan. 10-17, 44 percent of Americans said they are very or somewhat confident in the president’s ability to handle the public health impact of the pandemic, a drop of 21 percentage points since March 2021. The public was nearly evenly split on whether they thought the worst of the pandemic was over, with 49 percent responding in the affirmative and 50 percent saying that “the worst is still to come.” (Cheng and Suliman, 1/26)

In related news about nurses —

Modern Healthcare: Members Of Congress Call For Investigation Into Nurse Staffing Agencies' Pricing
Nearly 200 members of Congress have asked the White House to open an investigation into whether nurse-staffing agencies are illegally profiting off of the pandemic. Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) led their colleagues in a letter to COVID-19 coordinator Jeffrey Zients Monday that urges the White House to direct federal agencies to scrutinize staffing agencies for potential "anticompetitive activity" and violations of consumer protection laws. (Hellmann, 1/25)

In other news from the Health and Human Services Department —

Modern Healthcare: HHS Releases $2B In Relief Grants As AHA Pleads For More Help
The Health and Human Services Department will make roughly $2 billion more in Provider Relief Funding payments this week, the government announced Tuesday. But that's not enough for the American Hospital Association, which is urging President Joe Biden's administration to distribute another $6 billion and Congress to authorize $25 billion more. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, there is no money left over, however. The $6 billion remaining in the account is already set aside for purposes such as reconsiderations of previous grants and reimbursements to providers that treated uninsured patients, an agency spokesperson wrote in an email. The PRF dollars come from the $178 billion CARES Act that President Donald Trump enacted in 2020. (Goldman, 1/25)

Modern Healthcare: AHIP: HHS Gets Surprise Billing For Air Ambulances Right
AHIP wants a judge to side with the federal government in an ongoing lawsuit over a regulation that would limit patient costs for out-of-network air ambulance transportation. In an amicus brief submitted Tuesday, the insurance lobby said the government's rule is appropriate, and in the best interest of consumers and insurers. The process set up by the federal government "reduces the likelihood and costs of resolving disputes, furthers predictability and efficiency, and helps remedy a uniquely dysfunctional market dynamic that foisted supracompetitive air ambulance charges on patients for far too long," AHIP wrote in its brief. (Goldman, 1/25)