Congress urged to advance preparedness bill

Nearly 70 organizations, including the AHA, today urged congressional leaders to advance the House-passed Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness & Advancing Innovation Act (H.R. 269), legislation that would reauthorize hospital and other federal emergency preparedness programs. A similar version passed the Senate Health Education, Labor & Pensions Committee last year. “The HELP and Energy & Commerce Committees have made tremendous, bipartisan progress on this important legislation, and it would be a setback for our national health security to further delay reauthorization,” the organizations wrote. “The disaster relief package being considered by Congress would be a logical vehicle for PAHPAI.” The groups express particular concern that several preparedness authorities, such as temporary reassignment of state and local personnel and provisions critical to Department of Health and Human Services contracting, have expired. “We believe that time is of the essence in reauthorizing these important authorities,” they said.