The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently held a committee markup session where they made strides in enhancing healthcare affordability through the advancement of legislation with a goal of benefiting family health and financial well-being.
According to a release by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) on May 24, there are 19 bills being sponsored designed to lower health care costs, improve energy security and broadband deployment.
“Today, the House Energy & Commerce Committee took another significant step to improve healthcare affordability by advancing critical legislation that will help families' health and wallets," said Frederick Isasi, executive director of Families USA, in a May 24 release.
Isasi added, “Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Ranking Member Frank Pallone have continued to prioritize solving key pieces of our nation’s affordability crisis by taking steps to curtail abusive business practices and price gouging. We encourage Congress to continue making improvements to price transparency legislation, including creating a legal obligation, as found in other elements of the Medicare program, for Chief Executive Officers of hospitals to confirm the hospital has fully complied with price transparency, as well as pursuing other solutions, such as expanding site-neutral payments to further crack down on corporate gaming and support health care delivery in the most efficient location – not just the ones that net higher profits for big health care corporations.”
“Now that this legislation has cleared another major hurdle with overwhelming bipartisan support, we are calling on Speaker McCarthy to bring this legislation to the floor for a full vote and reinvest those savings in additional policies to increase affordability, improve quality, and address long-standing inequities.”
According to the release by the Energy and Commerce Committee, the legislation encompasses a wide range of measures devoted to addressing healthcare concerns. This includes affordability, price transparency, funding critical research, protecting hospitals serving vulnerable patients and improving the regulatory processes.
Chair Rodgers emphasized the committee's commitment to advancing these bills to address pressing challenges and enhance the well-being of American citizens.
“We are taking action to make the health care system more patient-friendly so that people can access health care when they need it and at a cost they can afford...today is a very important step, but just a first step in our effort to improve how the health care system works for patients," she said.
