Chairman Griffith Delivers Opening Statement at Health Markup of Public Health Reauthorization Bills

bills that we have across the finish line before they expire. At the end of the fiscal year, the legislative hearing will be held. That we held in July allowed us to hear from expert witnesses and understand the impact of some of these programs. Two very important reauthorizations in front of us serve a vital role for our health care workforce, which are title seven and title eight. Reauthorizations H.R. 4262, the empower for health act, championed by representative Schakowsky from Illinois reauthorizes title seven programs that help bolster our physician community by prioritizing recruitment and retention. This will continue to incentivize more individuals to enter the health workforce and expand access to care in rural and underserved areas. H.R. 53593, the title eight nursing workforce reauthorization act, being led by representative David Joyce reauthorizes, title eight of the public health service act, which plays a meaningful role in supporting development of our nation's nurses. This reauthorization includes many important grant programs that help strengthen the nursing workforce and increase educational opportunities for both nurses and faculty at nursing schools. The program also allows for loan repayment opportunities that are needed to incentivize more people to enter the nursing workforce. We've all heard about the need for more healthcare workers in this country, and the reauthorization of these programs is a step in the right direction towards addressing that need. Congress will continue to take a close look to ensure these taxpayer funded programs are properly targeted and allocate resources to areas and patients who need it the most. We are also marking up H.R. 2493, the improving care in rural America reauthorization act, an important bill carried by representative Carter of Georgia. This bill reauthorizes the rural health services outreach programs, which aim to support and promote health care services in rural areas. This program was signed into law in 2020. Under president trump's first administration. It promotes innovative solutions that help people in rural communities get the care they need, such as increased access to preventative health services and screenings, chronic care management, and other forms of care that are needed in our rural areas across the united States. Another important bill before us today is H.R. 3419, the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant program reauthorization act, led by representative Valadao from California. This bill helps increase education, uh, on the use of telehealth across the country. Very important. Reauthorizing the telehealth resource centers grant program will support our telehealth infrastructure that has become a lifeline for both providers and patients, especially those in hard to reach rural areas. These resource centers serve as the main hub for technical assistance and support for telehealth in their respective regions. The university of Virginia is currently the resource center for my district and for the mid-atlantic region. They have experienced a 24% increase, 24% increase in telehealth visits from their program from fiscal year 24 to fiscal year 25. This type of increase is happening across the country, and it is likely to continue growing as we look to extend telehealth flexibilities, we must reauthorize these centers to ensure our states are keeping up with the most recent technology and sharing their expertise so patients can have access to the care they need. Other reauthorization bills that are before us are being led by representative ocasio-cortez from New York and representative Morrison from Minnesota. These will help reduce the rate of infant mortality, improve perinatal outcomes, and expand access to screenings and services for newborns at risk of for certain disorders. Allowing for early newborn screening can save lives, create better outcomes, reduce long term healthcare costs. We should, we should, and we should strive to do those things as we must do with every authorization bill that moves through this committee, we must evaluate the impacts these programs have had and not only ensure the money is being spent as it was originally intended, but also ensure patient privacy is protected. Considering each of these, reauthorizations is an important step forward to ensure each program is working as we intended, and we will continue to examine these programs as we move to full to the full committee. I look forward to moving these bills out of the health subcommittee.