Prescription Drug Costs Previously, I reported in this column that two bills meant to combat high drug prices had passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I am happy to say that President Trump has since signed them into law. The Know the Lowest Price Act of 2018 and the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act ban “gag clauses,” which are sometimes imposed by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) on pharmacists and can lead to customers paying higher prices for prescription drugs. These...
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Health Tidbits Before the start of the 2019 fiscal year on October 1, the House of Representatives passed several appropriations bills combined with a Continuing Resolution to fund the Federal Government. They have since been signed into law by President Trump. I voted for the Continuing Resolution. The Continuing Resolution was combined with appropriation bills for the Departments of 1) Labor 2) Health and Human Services 3) Defense, and 4) Education. These combined bills funded many important t...
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As you know, I serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The following are some of the issues we are working on. Progress on Prescription Drug Prices High prescription drug prices are a burden on many Ninth District residents. There are a variety of reasons why prices have soared, but one necessary factor in order to bring them down is transparency. Thanks to legislation that has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, transparency will be coming to drug prices. Both chambers...
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A recent award ceremony including a Southwest Virginian at the Library of Congress reminded me of our region’s rich musical heritage. The course of American music was shaped by traditions, people, and places found within the borders of Virginia’s Ninth District. The Southwest Virginian honored in Washington is Eddie Bond of Fries, among the foremost practitioners of old-time fiddling. In June of this year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced that he won a National Heritage Fellow...
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Our part of Virginia understands the damage that can be inflicted by excessive regulation. The War on Coal was largely waged in this manner, as the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) imposed layers of rules providing no benefit to the environment but imposing massive new costs on the coal industry. The coal industry is not the only subject of overzealous regulation. After Hurricane Florence, I toured Floyd County to see flood damage with Sheriff Brian Craig and Board of...
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Bipartisan Health Care Legislation Health care policy touches on some of the most important and personal decisions people make. From my vantage point on the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I continue to look for ways to improve health care in the Ninth District. Health care policy revolves around quality, availability, and affordability. All three of these goals can be promoted by the use of telehealth, in which medical services are provided remotely through electronic ...
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An Open Letter to the Social Media/Tech Industry Social media occupies a prominent place in modern America. Remarkably prominent, given how novel the medium is. Facebook and Twitter were both founded this century. These companies pioneered new avenues for people to interact with each other, and a recent study found that 67% of Americans get at least some news on social media. The companies grew rapidly in the process. In 2018, they rank among the most powerful companies on the planet. That power...
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Thoughts on Labor Day and Grant Workshops Announcement We dedicate Labor Day each year to the social and economic contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. While the first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, it would not become a nationally recognized holiday until 1894. On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act designating the first Monday of September the legal holiday we observe today. More than a ...
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Recently, I’ve participated in the announcement of five projects that will repurpose old coal mine lands for a variety of uses, from economic development to recreation. Securing federal money for these projects has been a priority of mine in the House of Representatives, and it has been a multi-year process. Money for abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation for Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania has been included in the spending bills that come to the House floor. While those states have mo...
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I recently enjoyed a stop at the Virginia State Peach Festival, held in Stuart on August 16. For 31 years, the festival has been celebrating peaches and all their uses, from eating them on their own to enjoying them in a homemade cobbler. Celebrating peaches is fun, but a lot of work goes into getting them to our tables, our lunchboxes, or even our festivals based around them. Producing all 6,500 tons of Virginia peaches (as reported in the last completed Census of Agriculture) requires selectin...
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