House advances bills on health crisis readiness, sports medicine liability
Two pieces of legislation dealing with public health issues were passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee June 8.
The first bill, titled the Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act, would expand the Department of Homeland Security’s priority review voucher program, offering more funding for research and development of vaccines and treatments for diseases which may pose a threat to national security, like anthrax or Ebola.
“Reacting to crises as they happen can—and does—cost countless lives and billions of taxpayer dollars; this is not governing and should no longer be an acceptable strategy,” Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., chief sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “There are steps we can take today to strengthen our underlying biodefense enterprise that will enhance our readiness for the next biological threat that reaches our shores—whether by an act of man or nature.”
Her bill would also require a federal report on how prepared hospitals and public health agencies are in the event of a public health emergency.
The second piece of legislation deals with medical liability rules for athletic trainers and other healthcare professionals in sports medicine who travel with teams to other states.
Labeled as the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act of 2015, the bill would extend malpractice insurance coverage from a practitioner’s primary state to all states they travel to as part of their job.
“There is a lot of uncertainty regarding the legal protection for these sports medicine practitioners who are licensed and covered by malpractice insurance to practice in their primary state, but may not be covered when they travel to another state for a game, tournament, or other sporting event,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. “My bill will provide clarity so that these professionals can provide quality and timely health care for injured athletes without putting their personal and professional lives at risk.”
Both bills were passed unanimously by the subcommittee.
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.