Doctors In Congress Influence Health Policy
Two looks at the influence politician-doctors have in Congress, including on the surprise medical bill legislation. In other news, drinking water infrastructure, ivermectin, Fauci facing threats and more.
Modern Healthcare:
Doctors In Congress: 20 Of 23 Currently Serving Belong To GOP
In one moment, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), an anesthesiologist, is holding a news conference advising people to get vaccinated. He’s even helped administer COVID-19 shots in his eastern Maryland district. But in another moment, Harris is on the radio talking about his disappointment that he couldn’t find a pharmacy that would fill a prescription he wrote for ivermectin—an antiparasitic—to treat a patient with COVID-19, a viral infection. (Hellman, 11/16)
KHN:
Congressional Doctors Lead Bipartisan Revolt Over Policy On Surprise Medical Bills
The detente that allowed Congress to pass a law curbing surprise medical bills has disintegrated, with a bipartisan group of 152 lawmakers assailing the administration’s plan to regulate the law and medical providers warning of grim consequences for underserved patients. For years, people have faced these massive, unexpected bills when they get treatment from hospitals or doctors outside their insurance company’s network. It often happens when patients seek care at an in-network hospital but a physician such as an emergency room doctor or anesthesiologist who treats the patient is not covered by the insurance plan. The insurer would pay only a small part of the bill, and the unsuspecting patient would be responsible for the balance. (McAuliff, 11/17)
On covid —
The Baltimore Sun:
Rep. Andy Harris, An Anesthesiologist, Says Complaint Was Filed Against Him For Prescribing Ivermectin To Treat COVID-19
Andy Harris, a Maryland congressman and anesthesiologist, says a complaint has been filed against him with a physicians board for prescribing ivermectin to treat COVID-19. Ivermectin is used to treat parasites in humans but is not authorized for treating COVID-19 by the Food and Drug Administration, which says the medication can be dangerous in large doses. Often citing its use overseas, ivermectin supporters have pushed the drug as an inexpensive treatment for COVID. But researchers so far have been unable to prove the drug is effective. (Barker, 11/16)
The Hill:
Greene Says She's Accumulated $63K In House Mask Fines And Is Not Vaccinated
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Tuesday that she has accumulated $63,000 in fines for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor, with additional fines likely to be imposed as she continues to defy the chamber's mask requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I'm up to $63,000," Greene told The Hill outside the House chamber while not wearing a mask and confirmed that the fines are automatically "deducted out of my check." Greene also volunteered that she is not vaccinated against COVID-19 after declining to disclose her vaccination status for months. (Marcos, 11/16)
Stat:
Fauci Calls Out ‘Insanity’ Of Threats He Gets For Promoting Covid-19 Vaccines
Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert who himself has become something of a Rorschach test for people’s views on the pandemic, warned that the politicization of the Covid-19 response threatens the country’s ability to withstand future health emergencies, even at a time of great scientific progress. “How do you change a mindset in a country that is completely antithetical to a response to an outbreak?” Fauci said Tuesday at the STAT Summit. “If ever there was any phenomenon that required people pulling together in a society, it’s an outbreak that’s killing hundreds of thousands of people. I don’t know how we’re going to get that divisiveness behind us.” (Joseph, 11/16)
And in other health care news from the Hill —
The Hill:
Duckworth Touts Drinking Water Infrastructure Funds In Bipartisan Bill
The bipartisan infrastructure package signed Monday by President Biden contains a bill streamlining funding for water infrastructure projects, a provision that its sponsor, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), hopes will mean “a difference made in people’s lives every day.” In an interview with The Hill Tuesday, Duckworth called the measure in question, the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021, “the backbone of all the water infrastructure in this larger bill.” The provision includes $15 billion in direct payments to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for Lead Service Line Replacement, which Duckworth told The Hill is “historic.” (Budryk, 11/16)
