Healthcare

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) to investigate a report that more than 700 VA patients were exposed to a fatal virus.

Some patients at the Buffalo VA Medical Center were potentially exposed to HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C because insulin pens were improperly used on multiple patients.

Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Thursday questioned the effectiveness of anti-waste and fraud-prevention efforts for Medicare. 

“Budgets are tight and we can’t afford to lose taxpayer dollars to waste and fraud,” Baucus said in a statement Thursday. “Medicare’s efforts to crack down must deliver results.”

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) this week vowed to continue trying to starve Planned Parenthood of federal funds after the group's latest report showed it performed a record number of abortions in its latest fiscal year.

According to Black, Planned Parenthood's latest report says the group received $542 million in taxpayer funding, nearly half of the group's revenue. She said the group performed nearly 334,000 abortions in the last fiscal year.

Montana Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D) have asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reconsider its decision to change the definition of “frontier” from population density to a community's distance from a major city.

The senators sent a letter to HHS’s Office of Rural Health Policy on Monday explaining how the change would negatively affect small towns in rural areas get access to doctors and services.

The House voted Wednesday to extend a program aimed at developing vaccines and other responses to bio-threats, along with other health-related bills, including one that could lead to Medicare coverage for home IVIG treatments.

In a 383-16 vote, members approved the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act, H.R. 6672, which reauthorizes programs that help prepare for bio-threats. These programs are now carried out under the Public Health Service Act and other laws dealing with public health.

The Senate passed a bill Thursday to cover military service members’ in vitro fertilization (IVF) services through the veterans healthcare system.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday called for Medicare reform to be part of any deficit-reduction deal, warning fellow legislators that rising healthcare costs need to be curbed.

“We need to be talking about healthcare spending and we need to be talking about it now,” Grassley said on the floor Monday.

Republicans have been calling for entitlement reform to be included in discussions on how to avoid the "fiscal cliff," which is set to take place next month, when the Bush-era tax rates expire and sequestration takes effect.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) vowed Friday to fight for abortion rights and healthcare coverage for military service women if the Senate defense bill reaches a conference committee with the House.

Shaheen said the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 3254, includes language allowing reproductive healthcare for female service members.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) forced a roll-call vote on an amendment to the defense bill, despite wide support for the measure.

An amendment expanding healthcare coverage for military family members with disabilities passed in the Senate on a vote of 66-29 Thursday. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced Amendment 3058, which requires the military healthcare provider, TRICARE, to cover therapies for military family members with disabilities, such as autism.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) applauded the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision Tuesday to review the safety of energy drinks.

“There is very clearly a lack of understanding about the health effects of energy drinks and their ingredients especially on children and adolescents,” Durbin and Blumenthal said in a statement Tuesday.