Senate committee advances bill to reauthorize preparedness programs

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today 17-3 to pass as amended the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act (S. 2333), which would reauthorize the Hospital Preparedness Program at the current funding level of $385 million through fiscal year 2029. Among other provisions, the bill would require drug makers to notify the Food and Drug Administration when they anticipate a meaningful shortage and report who makes the active pharmaceutical ingredients in their drugs. AHA has urged Congress to at least double current annual funding for the HPP, which it called “vastly insufficient,” as well as address drug and device shortages.