Senate Panel Launches Push To Tackle Alarming Shortage Of Health Workers
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing Thursday on the health personnel crisis that worsened during the covid pandemic. Among the measures discussed, panel chairman Bernie Sanders called for expanded medical school access.
Fierce Healthcare:
Senate Panel Launches Effort To Shore Up Health Workforce
A key Senate panel is launching a major effort to shore up the healthcare workforce after lingering shortages have roiled the industry. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing Thursday on addressing the crisis. Some of the policy solutions include expanding the Graduate Medical Education program and growing teaching health centers. (King, 2/16)
The Hill:
Sanders Calls For Expanded Access To Medical Education To Address Worker Shortage
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), called to reduce barriers to medical education in a hearing on Thursday, bringing in medical school administrators from across the country to discuss their experiences and proposed solutions. (Choi, 2/16)
In other legal, political health news —
The New York Times:
Burn Pit Program For Veterans Could Cost At Least $400 Billion, Agency Finds
A sweeping new entitlement program to provide medical care to millions of veterans who may have been exposed to trash burn pits on U.S. military bases around the world may increase federal spending on veterans by at least $400 billion and as much as $789 billion over a decade, according to the official budgetary scorekeepers in Congress. (Lai and Tankersley, 2/16)
Stat:
Medicare Advantage Membership Grows 7% For 2023
Nearly 31.2 million seniors and people with disabilities are now enrolled in a private Medicare plan, known as Medicare Advantage, according to new federal government data analyzed by STAT. That total is 7.1% higher than the 29.1 million people who had a Medicare Advantage plan in 2022. Although that annual growth rate is the lowest since 2016, the private plans now catch roughly half of the entire Medicare population. (Herman, 2/17)
The Washington Post:
Institutional Review Boards, Or IRBs, Backed By Private Equity Deserve More Scrutiny, GAO Says
A government watchdog called for greater federal oversight of ethics boards that sign off on scientific studies, finding that for-profit companies have taken an outsize role in approving certain research and questioning whether financial motivations could put human subjects at risk. (Gilbert and Johnson, 2/16)
On pharmacy benefit managers —
Fierce Healthcare:
Lawmakers Question Why PBMs ‘Even Exist’ In Heated Hearing
Senators pilloried the lack of transparency from pharmacy benefit managers during a hearing Thursday, as lawmakers hope to pass reforms this session. The Senate Commerce Committee hosted the hearing amid concerns that PBMs steer patients toward pharmacies that they own. Lawmakers have introduced legislation to shed light on the issue, but some Republicans have balked over giving the federal government more authority. (King, 2/16)
Stat:
GOP Uses FTC’s Khan As An Excuse For Opposing Drug Pricing Bills
Congress’ efforts to get more information on the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers are running into an unlikely roadblock: Republicans’ dislike of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and her approach to antitrust enforcement. (Wilkerson, 2/16)
Also —
Politico:
EPA Moves To Cement Pesticide Protections For Farmworkers
The Biden administration is moving to solidify protections for the nation’s 2 million farmworkers. In a proposed rule, the EPA is reaffirming protections established in 2015 that required agricultural employers to keep workers and others out of areas while pesticides are being sprayed, known as the Application Exclusion Zone. The AEZ can range from 25 to 100 feet depending on the height of the sprayer and size of droplets. (Brown, 2/16)
KHN:
After Staying Away During Pandemic, Doctors Return To Lobby Congress
Dr. Timothy McAvoy, an internist from Waukesha, Wisconsin, held his infant granddaughter Tuesday while standing in the Longworth House Office Building, waiting to talk to a congressional aide about increasing Medicare pay for doctors. Facing a highly partisan Congress where Republicans have vowed to cut federal spending, McAvoy hoped his Midwestern charm, along with a dose of supporting data, would sway members to remember physicians’ cause. (Galewitz, 2/17)
