The Shadow
At the beginning of February, Congress passed an appropriations package to fund various federal agencies and projects.
I helped secure federal funding for Ninth District communities through some of the 12 appropriations bills. Some of this funding will support local communications equipment upgrades, nuclear energy research and transportation infrastructure.
The February government funding measure, which I supported, not only included some of the needed appropriations bills but also featured important health care policies.
One such policy concerns Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform.
I have written about the problems of PBMs in the past and previously co-signed legislation to
PBMs, which are responsible for negotiating drug prices, serve as an intermediary between insurers, drugmakers, and patients.
In many cases, PBMs account for the drug price increases that patients and pharmacies face. These increases are fueled in part by PBM rebates, hidden fees and other actions.
The government funding measure contained provisions that challenge the practices of these middlemen, which sometimes cause consumers to pay more out of pocket costs. This is in spite of the fact that PBMs were originally formed to lower consumer costs.
Congress has acted to compel PBMs, group health plans and issuers to provide more prescription drug spending data.
We also give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) authority to impose monetary penalties on PBMs that violate certain contract terms related to Medicare Part D and to track payment trends to pharmacies.
I believe these transparency reforms will help efforts to bring accountability to our drug pricing system, weed out unfair, predatory practices and reduce drug prices across the country.
The same week that Congress passed the most recent government funding package, one major PBM, Express Scripts, agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
As part of the agreement, Express Scripts will take several actions to increase transparency for plan sponsors and rein in its practices that led to artificially inflated list prices.
The PBM reforms Congress passed hopefully builds off this momentum.
Another target of our government funding measure? Cancer.
Congress expanded Medicare coverage of multi-cancer early detection screening tests. On screening, the tests do have significant false positives so don’t panic if it says you have cancer, but for the first time we have tests that can pick up cancers like pancreatic cancer before there are no viable treatments.
The package also funded research efforts into pediatric cancer.
I was proud to help advance these bills from the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.
Other provisions in the government funding bill extend the authorities of a number of key health care programs and services.
Rural health stands to benefit!
One of the program extensions protects the Medicare-dependent Hospital program.
This program provides boosted reimbursements to small, rural hospitals that serve a high proportion of Medicare patients. As a result, these hospitals can better support their communities in these rural areas.
As our rural communities age and our reliance on Medicare persists, some hospitals in our part of the state will qualify for this program and the federal dollars that come with it!
These are not the only in-person medical operations in Virginia’s Ninth District supported by the government funding extensions.
A second health extender supports the work of Community Health Centers (CHCs).
Because of the lack of a sufficient presence of health care providers in rural Virginia, CHCs help fill some of this void. There are 61 in Virginia’s Ninth District alone!
CHCs will continue to play a major role in serving the medical needs of Virginia’s Ninth District.
While support for rural community access to in-person providers is essential, some still face barriers.
That is why in the government funding measure, Congress also extends program authority for telehealth flexibility.
Rural communities, which lack sufficient and immediate access to in-person providers, can receive more prompt attention and care via telehealth services.
As a staunch advocate of rural health care solutions, this extension will allow many communities in rural America to more easily access health care services.
It is great that this Congress has extended these program authorities. The above policy reforms and extensions continue the critical work of our health care professionals to deliver necessary care, resources and support to rural America.
I will continue using my position as Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman to protect these programs for rural America.
These programs are a piece of the puzzle to meaningful rural health care solutions. They represent my interest to make health care more affordable, more accessible and more accountable for you.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at https://morgangriffith.house.gov/.
