Archives
04/08/2014
Markup
The Subcommittee on Energy and Power has scheduled a markup beginning on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. The Subcommittee will consider the following:
H.R. 6, the “Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act”
On Tuesday, April 8, 2014, the Subcommittee convened at 4:00 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building for opening statements only. It reconvened on Wednesday, April 9,...
04/08/2014
Press Release
Ranking Members Waxman and Pallone, along with Committee on Ways and Means Ranking Members Levin and McDermott, sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner requesting that CMS adopt a more transparent regulatory approach to modify Medicare Part B physician payments. Specifically, the members requested that CMS follow a full notice and...
04/07/2014
Bill
H.R. 4069, introduced by Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), clarifies some terminology used in the Controlled Substances Act, requires criminal background checks and drug testing for those employees of manufacturers and distributors of controlled substances who have access to the controlled substances, and creates a presidentially-appointed working group to make recommendations on ways to combat...
04/07/2014
Bill
On April 1, 2014, the House passed S. 1557, the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2013, by a voice vote under suspension of the rules. This bill extends the Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program, which provides funding to about 55 freestanding children’s hospitals in 30 states to support the training of pediatricians and...
04/07/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on Monday, April 7, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled “Improving Predictability and Transparency in DEA and FDA Regulation.” The Subcommittee reviewed H.R. 4299, the “Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act,” H.R. 4069, the “Ensuring Patient...
04/04/2014
Press Release
The Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means prepared a fact sheet describing the impacts of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget on Medicare.
On April 1, 2014, Chairman Paul Ryan introduced the House Republican budget for fiscal year 2015, again pursuing the Republicans’ plan to end Medicare as we know it. The plan would turning Medicare into a voucher system,...
04/03/2014
Bill
The stated purpose of H.R. 2019 is to increase funding for pediatric medical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The $12.6 million it purports to make available for that purpose is minuscule relative to current spending and the $1.55 billion lost by NIH to the sequestration. The premise of H.R. 2019 is that it terminates public financing for political conventions and...
04/03/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a hearing on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled “Fiscal Year 2015 Department of Energy Budget.”
04/03/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing focused on H.R. 3717, the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013."
04/03/2014
Markup
The Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at 4:00 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The Committee considered the following bills:
• H.R. 3548, Improving Trauma Care Act of 2013, as amended;
• H.R. 4080, Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act, as amended;
• H.R....
04/03/2014
Press Release
Today Ranking Member Waxman released the following statement in response to the settlement announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice to secure $1 billion to cleanup abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation:
“The pervasive uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation is an American tragedy. Over the last five years, the federal government has...
04/02/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. The title of the hearing was “Ensuring the Security, Stability, Resilience, and Freedom of the Global Internet.”
04/02/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Energy and Power and the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a joint hearing on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was entitled “The Fiscal Year 2015 EPA Budget.”
04/02/2014
Press Release
Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman was joined yesterday by eight Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats in introducing H.R. 4364, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014, following the Committee’s hearing with GM CEO Mary Barra on the GM recalls. The legislation will increase transparency and accountability for auto manufacturers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA...
04/01/2014
Bill
This House Republican Medicare bill includes a 12-month extension for Medicare physician payments and related extenders. The bill averts a nearly 24 percent cut to Medicare physician payments that would occur on April 1, 2014 and extends the 0.5 percent update for providers throughout the remainder of 2014. The legislation includes a number of new policies, some of which are used to offset the...
04/01/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was entitled “Examining Concerns Regarding FDA’s Proposed Changes to Generic Drug Labeling.”
04/01/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was entitled “The GM Ignition Switch Recall: Why Did It Take So Long?”
04/01/2014
Press Release
Today Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman released a supplemental memorandum on findings from never-released GM warranty claims. Released in advance of this afternoon’s hearing with GM CEO Mary Barra, the memo shows that drivers and GM technicians repeatedly reported the ignition switch defect beginning in 2003.
03/31/2014
Press Release
Ranking Member Waxman released the following statement in response to the new report, titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
“The world’s leading scientists are delivering a stark warning: climate change is already happening and will get much worse if we do not act now. No one will be immune from...
03/31/2014
Press Release
Today Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette, and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky sent a letter to General Motors Chief Executive Office Mary T. Barra requesting information about the company’s knowledge of why and how it approved production of faulty ignition switches. In a...
03/31/2014
Press Release
Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman released the following statement on the Federal Communication Commission’s action today concerning media ownership rules and retransmission consent negotiations:
“I’m pleased that Chairman Wheeler today reiterated his commitment to complete the 2014 Quadrennial Review in an expeditious manner. The FCC’s broadcast ownership...
03/31/2014
Press Release
Rep. Waxman released the following statement on the spectrum-related items adopted by the FCC today:
“I applaud the bipartisan, unanimous vote by the FCC to make available 65 MHz of prime spectrum for auction and to open up another 100 megahertz of spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band for Wi-Fi services."
03/28/2014
Press Release
Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman released the following statement on a new interagency strategy to reduce methane emissions, the latest piece of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.
“Methane emissions are a major cause of climate change that is disrupting weather patterns across the country. The new plan from the Obama Administration is an important step...
03/27/2014
Press Release
The Democratic Staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee released an updated memo to Democratic members and staff comparing current Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment trends to Medicare Part D enrollment trends in 2005 and 2006. The analysis finds that Americans are signing up for health insurance under the ACA at a significantly faster rate than seniors signed up for Medicare Part D....
03/26/2014
Bill
On March 26, 2014, Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Edward J. Markey introduced the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The bill provides the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with the authority it needs to effectively address physical, cyber, electromagnetic pulse, and other threats to and vulnerabilities of the electric grid...
03/26/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday, March 26, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was entitled “Where Have All the Patients Gone? Examining the Psychiatric Bed Shortage.”
Rep. Waxman and Sen. Markey Introduce GRID Act to Protect Electrical Grid from Physical, Cyberattack
03/26/2014
Press Release
Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Edward J. Markey introduced the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The bill provides the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with the authority it needs to effectively address physical, cyber, electromagnetic pulse, and other threats to and vulnerabilities of the electric grid. In...
03/26/2014
Press Release
Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to Koch Industries requesting information about Koch Industries’ or its affiliated companies’ financial interests in the Keystone XL pipeline. Koch Industries has been asked about these ties in the past and has consistently denied having any interest. But there is mounting evidence that Koch Industries...
03/25/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a hearing on Tuesday, March 25, 2014, at 1:30 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing focused on H.R. 6, the “Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act.”
03/25/2014
Press Release
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy and Ranking Member Diana DeGette today provided a progress report on the committee’s investigation into General Motors Company’s (GM) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) response to consumer complaints related to stalling, airbag non-deployment, and ignition switch problems. GM CEO Mary...
03/24/2014
Markup
On March 24 and 25, 2014, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology marked up H.R. ____, a bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to extend expiring provisions relating to the retransmission of signals of television broadcast stations, and for other purposes.
03/20/2014
Press Release
Today Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman, Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette sent a letter to Gilead Sciences Inc. Chief Executive Officer John C. Martin to request a briefing on pricing of the company’s recently approved Hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi. Reports indicate that Gilead intends to sell...
03/20/2014
Press Release
Bipartisan House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders today announced that General Motors Company CEO Mary Barra will testify at an Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. The committee has also invited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Acting Administrator David Friedman to testify on the same day.
03/18/2014
Press Release
Today the Democratic Staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee released a memo to Democratic members and staff which compares current Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment trends to Medicare Part D enrollment trends in 2005 and 2006. The analysis finds that Americans are signing up for health insurance under the ACA at a faster rate than seniors signed up for Medicare Part D.
03/14/2014
Bill
On February 6, 2014, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman introduced a bipartisan, bicameral bill...
03/13/2014
Bill
The Seniors' Fairness Act, sponsored by Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), would eliminate the cost-sharing programs for individuals between 100% and 250% of the federal poverty limit purchasing coverage in the health insurance marketplaces. The cost-sharing programs play a critical role in reducing the out-of-pocket health care costs of lower-income Americans. The bill would also create a...
03/13/2014
Bill
This bill, introduced by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), would amend the Internal Revenue Code to remove restrictions on who can contribute to a Medicare Advantage (MA) medical savings accounts (MSA, also known as an “Archer MSA”), effectively allowing MA beneficiaries to contribute their own money to their MSAs. Currently, contributions to MSAs are only allowed to be made by (1)...
03/13/2014
Bill
This bill, offered by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), would amend section 1851(d) of the Social Security Act (dealing with the Secretary’s responsibility to educate beneficiaries about plan choices) to require the Secretary to distribute information describing what changes were made to the plan offerings as a result of the Affordable Care Act and include an assessment of how such changes affect...
03/13/2014
Bill
On October 30, 2013, Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) introduced H.R. 3392, the Medicare Part D Patient Safety and Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2013.
The Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General (HHS OIG) has raised concerns about efforts by the Medicare Part D program to prevent and track fraud and abuse, including improper prescribing and prescription drug...
03/13/2014
Bill
This legislation, offered by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study (18 months after the date of enactment of the bill) of the number of low income or minority individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans in 2014 and the impact of eliminating overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans on projected enrollment of these groups in 2015 and...
03/13/2014
Bill
H.R. 4180, introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a rollover of a health savings account (HSA) to a Medicare Advantage medical savings account (MSA). This would encourage healthier and wealthier people to switch from comprehensive, low-deductible coverage to high-deductible health plans for tax sheltering purposes, worsening the risk pool for those...
03/13/2014
Bill
Under current law, Medicare beneficiaries have an annual open enrollment period from October 15th through December 7th of every year where they can elect to remain in Original Medicare, join a Medicare Advantage Plan, or switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another. Prior to 2011, beneficiaries also had a second open enrollment period from January 1st through March 31st where they...
03/13/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on Thursday, March 13, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was titled “Keeping the Promise: Allowing Seniors to Keep Their Medicare Advantage Plans If They Like Them.”
03/13/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing on Thursday, March 13, 2014, at 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was titled “Improving Sports Safety: A Multifaceted Approach.”
03/13/2014
Press Release
Today, Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin, Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott, and Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Frank Pallone sent a letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner regarding the proposed protections and rate changes within the 2015 Medicare Advantage Advance...
03/13/2014
Press Release
Today the Democratic Staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee released a memo to Democratic members and staff on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program detailing the history of exaggerated claims by some in the insurance industry.
03/13/2014
Press Release
The Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change hosted distinguished military leaders on Thursday, March 13, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. in the U.S. Capitol to discuss national security impacts of climate change.
Climate change creates “conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence,” according to the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review. Mass migrations,...
03/12/2014
Hearing
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was titled “Reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act.”