Emergency
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) joined 25 of her Senate colleagues in urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to provide Congress, patients, and providers with additional insight on the department’s plans for transitioning out of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The letter, which was led by Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), specifically requests information on how changes in temporary, pandemic-related policies will affect Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) patients and providers in the coming months.
“As the American people return to normalcy, workers, families, frontline health care providers, and a range of other stakeholders need transparency and certainty regarding the path forward,” the senators wrote. “This unpredictable patchwork of mandates and questionable authorities will continue to erode the public’s confidence in government health agencies. For frontline health care providers and patients, the administration’s erratic approach to transitioning beyond a perpetual state of pandemic emergency could prove particularly problematic.”
In addition to Senators Capito and Barrasso, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).