WARNER PASSES HEALTH CARE PRIORITIES IN GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILLS

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) applauds the congressional passage of a bipartisan health package advancing numerous Virginia priorities. This legislation includes several provisions authored and championed by Sen. Warner that expand telehealth services, lower drug costs, rein in Pharmacy Benefit Mangers (PBMs), protect rural health services, research maternal morality prevention, and fund cures and treatments for pediatric cancer.

“As premiums and out-of-pocket costs continue to rise, Virginians and folks across the country are struggling to afford health care coverage,” said Sen. Warner. “There is still a ton of work to be done to ensure that working families are not priced out of care, but I’m proud that Congress was able to take this step and work together in a bipartisan manner to pass many necessary provisions that will ensure telehealth is accessible, minimize the role of PBMs as a middle man, protect rural health labor and delivery services, allow for multi-cancer early detection screenings, and much more.”

This package includes several Warner-led or cosponsored provisions, including:

• An expanded telehealth package that extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities for two years; requires Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue guidance with best practices on providing telehealth services accessibly; allows cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services to be provided by telehealth in Medicare in 2026 and 2027; and directs the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to help health care providers learn how to screen for medication-induced movement disorders over telehealth.
• The PREVENT DIABETES Act, legislation that authorizes the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) Expanded Model to include virtual-only programs through 2029.
• The reauthorization of the Special Diabetes Program for Type 1 Diabetes – which researches how to prevent and cure type 1 diabetes – for one year.
• Core provisions from Sen. Warner’s Patients Before Middlemen Act and the Senate Finance Committee’s PBM Price Transparency and Accountability Act, legislation that protects access to pharmacies by requiring Medicare drug plans and PBMs to allow any willing pharmacy to participate in-network and prohibits PBMs from linking their fees from Part D plans to the price of drugs. Also, it ensures Medicare can confirm the PBMs are providing value by requiring PBMs to report on drug price and other information to Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans, requiring PBMs to define and apply drug and drug pricing terms in contracts with Medicare plans transparently and consistently, and empowering Part D plans with new audit rights with respect to PBMs.
• The PBM Reporting Transparency Act, legislation that holds Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) accountable for providing good value to seniors and Medicare by requiring information about the contracts between PBMs and Medicare prescription drug plans to be made public.
• The Keeping Obstetrics Local Act, legislation that requires State Medicaid programs to conduct studies on the costs of providing maternity, labor, and delivery services in rural hospitals and hospitals that serve a high proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries and submit a report detailing the results of this study to HHS.
• The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act, legislation to reauthorize programs that support efforts to improve the mental health of health care providers.
• The 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act of 2025, legislation that supports 9/11 responders’ and survivors’ health by updating the funding formula for the World Trade Center Health Program for FY2026 through 2040 and requiring a report to Congress from the HHS Secretary that assesses the anticipated budgetary needs of the Program.
• The Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act, legislation that improves access to necessary out-of-state care for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by requiring states to establish a process through which qualifying pediatric out-of-state providers may enroll as participating providers without undergoing additional screening requirements.
• The Rural Hospital Support Act, legislation that extends critical Medicare programs that increase payments to certain rural hospitals for one year.
• The Protecting Access to Ground Ambulance Medical Services Act, legislation that extends critical add-on payments for ground ambulance services, including higher ones for rural areas, for two years.
• The Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, legislation that adds multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood screening tests as a covered benefit under the Medicare program, effective January 1, 2029.
• The PREEMIE Reauthorization Act, legislation that addresses public health and prevention activities related to preterm birth through Fiscal Year 2030. Also, it directs HHS to establish a working group to coordinate federal activities related to preterm birth, infant mortality, and other adverse birth outcomes. Lastly, it directs the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to conduct a study and issue a report on the costs of preterm birth and the factors and gaps in public health programs that contribute to preterm birth.
• The Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act, legislation that reauthorizes support for State-based maternal mortality review committees through Fiscal Year 2030. Also, it directs HHS to disseminate best practices on maternal mortality prevention to hospitals, professional societies, and perinatal quality collaboratives.
• The Give Kids a Chance Act, legislation that helps develop cures and treatments for pediatric cancer. This includes providing FDA authority to require pediatric cancer trials for drugs that are used in combination with active ingredients that currently meet the standard of care for adult cancer but have potential for pediatric use; providing FDA authority to enforce against companies that fail to meet pediatric study requirements; and extending FDA priority review voucher program through Fiscal Year 2029 to incentivize the development of drugs for rare pediatric diseases.

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