The Friday Five – HELP Committee Passes Five Additional Bills

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) is led by Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) and is comprised of 22 Senators; 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Under their leadership, the Committee is composed of three subcommittees, which have a broad jurisdiction over our country’s health care, education, employment and retirement policies. Recently, The HELP Committee concluded a productive 115th Congress by passing five additional bills and approving four more qualified nominations. This week’s Friday Five takes a look at the five bills passed, four of which directly affects the healthcare industry. Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said, “the work this Committee has done over the last two years will have an impact on the lives of virtually every American.”

S.2076, BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act
This bill, offered by Senators Collins, Kaine, Capito, and Cortez Masto, will create Centers of Excellence to advance public health knowledge and ensure public health professionals, doctors and nurses, and patients and their families have the support and updated information on Alzheimer’s and related dementia diseases they need. The bill also establishes cooperative agreements to support state public health departments in taking what is learned from these centers of excellence and implementing that knowledge to help the individuals and families in their states.

S.3657, Traumatic Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2018
This bill, offered by Senators Hatch and Casey, reauthorizes state grants and programs related to surveillance, prevention, care, and research of traumatic brain injuries, and encourages data collection and analysis so we can better understand trends and causes of concussions.

H.R.315, Improving Access to Maternity Care Act
This bill, offered by Senators Murkowski and Baldwin, will help bring more doctors and nurses to provide care for pregnant women living in rural areas and other areas where there is a shortage of these health care providers.

S.3482, Emergency Medical Services for Children Program Reauthorization Act of 2018
This bill, offered by Senators Hatch, Casey and Schatz, will ensure that, from the ambulance to the emergency department, emergency health care providers are prepared to treat children, who typically require smaller equipment and different doses of medicine.

S.3530, Museum and Library Services Act of 2018
This bill, offered by Senators Collins, Murkowski, Reed and Gillibrand, reauthorizes programs for museums and libraries, including the only federal program exclusively for libraries—the Library Services and Technology Act.

ICYMI – Our other Friday Fives and Blog posts from HCNR’s Nurse Lauren.