Chairman Rick Scott of the Senate Special Committee on Aging sent a letter on Mar. 26 to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, expressing support for CMS’s advanced notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at reinforcing the U.S. supply chain for critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment.
Scott said that strengthening production standards and verification mechanisms is necessary to reduce reliance on foreign sources, especially China, for essential medical supplies. He called attention to vulnerabilities exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that hospitals struggled with shortages in personal protective equipment and medicines due to decades of offshoring manufacturing overseas.
"America’s dangerous overreliance on foreign-manufactured drugs and medical supplies threatens the health and safety of every patient CMS serves, especially the most vulnerable patients like our seniors," Scott said in his letter. He added that this is not only a public health issue but also a national security concern because "Communist China’s dominance in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), key starting materials (KSMs), medical devices, and PPE gives the Chinese Communist Party extraordinary leverage over American healthcare."
Scott recommended robust domestic content standards for both essential medicines and PPE as part of a new “Secure American Medicine Supplies” designation. He suggested phased increases in domestic sourcing requirements over time, stronger verification methods beyond self-attestation by hospitals, alignment between procurement reporting measures, explicit exclusion of products with Chinese-origin components from qualifying designations, and coordination with legislative efforts such as his bipartisan CLEAR LABELS Act requiring country-of-origin labeling on prescription drugs.
The Senate Aging Committee addresses issues affecting older Americans including Social Security, Medicare, long-term care and retirement security while conducting hearings and issuing reports according to its official website. The committee also provides resources such as a fraud hotline to protect older Americans from financial exploitation according to its official website, maintains offices in both Dirksen Senate Office Building (majority) and Hart Senate Office Building (minority) according to its official website, oversees federal programs including elder abuse prevention through policy recommendations according to its official website, extends oversight nationwide across aging-related federal programs according to its official website, with Rick Scott serving as chair alongside Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand according to its official website.
Scott concluded his letter by saying: "Rebuilding America’s domestic medical manufacturing base will require sustained commitment from Congress, the Executive Branch, hospitals, and the private sector." He urged CMS "to adopt robust domestic content thresholds" so that policies send a clear signal about strengthening U.S.-based supply chains.
