Sen. Alexander Issues Floor Statement on Three Health Bills
"First, I'd like to outline the process today.
"For senators' convenience, I am going to aimtoward noon for roll call votes on amendments and the bills, if that is all right.
"After
"Then, when we have a sufficient quorum, at about noon, we will pause, vote, and then we will continue the discussion, if that is all right.
"Today we are voting on three bills:
"First, the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act, offered by Senators Murray and Burr, to reauthorize and update the national network of poison control centers.
"Second, the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program Reauthorization Act, offered by
"Third, the Lower Health Care Costs Act - a package of 54 proposals from 65 senators - 29 Republican and 36 Democrat, including nearly every member of this Committee - that will reduce what Americans pay out of their own pockets for health care.
"The Lower Health Care Costs Act:
"The Lower Health Care Costs Act will reduce what Americans pay out of their pockets for health care in three major ways:
"First, it ends surprise billing.
"Second, it creates more transparency - there are twelve bipartisan provisions that will: eliminate gag clauses and anti-competitive terms in insurance contracts, designate a non-profit entity to unlock insurance claims for employers, ban Pharmacy Benefit Managers from charging more for a drug than the PBM paid for the drug, and require that patients receive more information on the cost and quality of their health care. You can't lower your health care costs until you know what your health care actually costs.
"And third, it increases prescription drug competition - there are fourteen bipartisan provisions to help more lower-cost generic and biosimilar drugs reach patients.
"This legislation also extends mandatory funding for community health centers, and four additional public health programs, to ensure the 27 million Americans who rely on these centers for primary care and other health care can continue to access care close to home, offered by
"We have paid for this extension for five years with savings from other parts of the larger bill, which will prevent the uncertainty and anxiety of short-term extensions.
"The Managers Amendment we are voting on today includes two additional, significant provisions:
"First, a bill from Senators McConnell and Kaine that will raise the minimum age for purchasing any tobacco product from 18 to 21.
"This has also been a priority of Senators Young, Romney, Roberts, Murkowski, Collins, Schatz, and others.
"And two, from Senators Grassley and Leahy, and many others, the CREATES Act, which will help bring more lower cost generic drugs to patients by eliminating anti-competitive practices by brand drug makers.
"Altogether, this legislation will help to lower the cost of health care, which has become a tax on family budgets and on businesses, on federal and state governments.
"A recent Gallup poll found that the cost of health care was the biggest financial problem facing American families.
"And last July, this Committee heard from Dr.
"Over the last two years, this Committee has held 16 hearings on a wide range of topics related to reducing the cost of health care - specifically, how do we reduce what the American people pay out of their own pockets for health care.
"Last December, I sent a letter to experts at the
"We received over 400 recommendations, some as many as 50 pages long.
"In May,
"Since then, we've received over 400 additional comments on our draft legislation, and last Tuesday, we held a hearing to hear additional feedback.
"Last Wednesday,
"At our hearing on this legislation last week,
""Together, the provisions in this bill would meaningfully increase competition and transparency in health care markets. If enacted, this legislation would lower insurance premiums and drug prices for consumers, and would ensure patients are no longer exposed to surprise medical bills. By lowering costs, this bill would also improve access to health care."
"We also heard from
""The Reducing Lower Health Care Costs Act is an ambitious piece of legislation - particularly so as a bipartisan bill in these most contentious of times."
"And
""Overall, its provisions could be thought of as incremental in scope. But some - especially those around transparency - could have a significant impact."
"Here are a few of the ways this legislation will lower health care costs:
"Ensures that patients do not receive a surprise medical bill - which is when you unexpectedly receive a
"Senators Cassidy, Hassan, and Murkowski have done valuable work to solve surprise medical billing by proposing a solution last fall and again this spring, and lighting a fire under
"I thank them for their dedication to this issue, and for working with
"
"This is a change for me because I was inclined to support an in-network guarantee since I believe it is the simplest solution.
"Some of my colleagues are inclined to support a new independent system of dispute resolution, known as arbitration.
"The
"We have also extended this protection to air ambulances, because according to the Government Accountability Office, nearly 70 percent of air ambulance transports were out-of-network in 2017 and the median price charged by air ambulance providers was about
"It is time to stop studying the issue of exorbitant air ambulance charges and take action.
"Our legislation will treat air ambulances the same as health care providers - by using the local, commercial market-based rate for in-network health care.
"This legislation will bring more generic and biosimilar drugs to market faster and lower the cost of prescription drugs by:
"Helping biosimilar companies speed drug development through a transparent, modernized, and searchable patent database. Senators Collins, Kaine, Braun, Hawley, Murkowski, Paul, Portman, Shaheen, and Stabenow worked on this provision.
"Improves the
"Prevents the abuse of citizens' petitions that can unnecessarily delay drug approvals, from Senators Gardner, Shaheen, Cassidy, Bennet, Cramer, and Braun.
"Clarifies that the makers of brand biological products, such as insulin, are not gaming the system to delay new, lower cost biosimilars from coming to market, from Senators Smith, Cassidy, and Cramer; and
"Eliminates a loophole that allows drug companies to get exclusivity - and delay less costly alternatives from coming to market - just by making small tweaks to an old drug, a proposal from Senators Roberts, Cassidy, and Smith.
"Modernizes outdated labeling of certain generic drugs, offered by Senators Bennet and Enzi.
"This legislation creates more transparency by:
"Banning gag clauses that prevent employers and patients from knowing the true price and quality of health care services. This proposal from Senators Cassidy and Bennet would allow an employer to know that a knee replacement might cost
"Requiring health care facilities to provide a summary of services when a patient is discharged from a hospital to make it easier to track bills, and requires hospitals to send all bills within 45 calendar days to protect patients from receiving unexpected bills many months after care, a provision worked on by Senators Enzi and Casey; and
"Requiring doctors and insurers to provide patients with price quotes on their expected out-of-pocket costs for care, so patients are able to shop around, a proposal from Senators Cassidy, Young, Murkowski, Ernst, Kennedy, Sullivan, Cramer, Braun, Hassan, Carper, Bennet, Brown, Cardin, Casey,
"It will support state and local efforts to increase vaccination rates, and will help prevent disease outbreaks, through two proposals worked on by Senators Roberts, Peters, and Duckworth.
"There is a provision to help communities prevent and reduce obesity, offered by Senators Scott and Jones.
"A provision from Senators Schatz, Capito, Cassidy, Collins, Heinrich, Hyde-Smith, Kaine, King, Murkowski, and Udall will expand the use of technology-based health care models to help patients in rural and underserved areas access specialized health care.
"And there is a proposal to improve access to mental health care led by Senators Cassidy and Murphy, building on their work in the HELP Committee that became law as part of the response to the opioid crisis.
"There are other proposals:
"For example, banning anti-competitive terms in health insurance contracts that prevent patients from seeing other, lower-cost, higher-quality providers.
"Banning Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs, from charging employers, health insurance plans, and patients more for a drug than the PBM paid to acquire the drug, which is known as "spread pricing."
"Eliminating a loophole allowing the first generic drug to submit an application to the FDA and block other generic drugs from being approved.
"Provisions to improve care for expectant and new moms and their babies.
"Provisions to make it as easy to get your personal medical records as it is to book an airplane flight.
"And provisions to incentivize health care organizations to use the best cybersecurity practices to protect your privacy and health information.
"I hope we will today vote to approve this legislative package so we can present it to Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer for the full
"Since January,
"They are working on their own bipartisan bill, which they plan to markup this summer.
"The
"And in the House, the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Judiciary Committees have all reported out bipartisan bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
"Secretary Azar and the
"And the president has called for ending surprise billing and reducing the cost of prescription drugs.
"The Administration has also taken steps to increase transparency so families and employers can better understand their health care costs.
"The Lower Health Care Costs Act is just one example of this Committee reaching a result on a difficult issue.
"We did that with fixing No Child Left Behind, with the 21st Century Cures Act, with user fee funding for the
"We reached those results in the midst of the argument
"Especially for Americans without subsidies, the cost of health insurance remains way too expensive.
"But the reality is we will never have lower cost health insurance until we have lower cost health care.
"That is why I am especially glad that 65 Senators, including nearly every member of this Committee, have worked together on the Lower Health Care Costs Act which takes needed steps to actually bring down the cost of health care that Americans pay for out of their own pockets.
"Because of that, I hope members will save controversial amendments and some good ideas that we have not had time to fully think through, until we move to the floor.
"
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