Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccines for Seniors Act with Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. It is critical that a future COVID-19 vaccine be made available to Medicare beneficiaries with no cost sharing, which is the goal of our legislation.

The CARES Act, which Congress passed overwhelmingly and was signed into law at the end of March, included provisions requiring Medicare to cover FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines with no-cost sharing. These provisions are designed to ensure that as soon as there is an approved and available COVID-19 vaccine, seniors across the Nation would be able to get the vaccine for free under Medicare. Vaccines are one of the best public health interventions in our lifetime and we must do everything we can to encourage everyone to get the vaccines recommended by their doctors. One of the most effective ways to improve vaccination rates is to remove barriers such as cost. In fact, working with my colleagues, I was able to include provisions in the Affordable Care Act to ensure that vaccines are covered by insurance with no cost-sharing. This not only makes our population healthier, but it also saves money in the long-term.

While the COVID-19 vaccine development and testing protocols are ongoing, it is very likely that the first vaccines will be made available under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by FDA. An EUA may be granted to one or more COVID-19 vaccines in order to get vaccines to those who need them the most, while the pharmaceutical companies continue testing and evaluating vaccine candidates and pursuing full FDA approval. While I have concerns that the Trump Administration may attempt to interfere in the vaccine approval process, most public health experts believe that the first vaccine candidates will be made available under an EUA. In this case, the CARES Act provisions requiring Medicare to cover COVID-19 vaccines would not apply, as vaccines made available under an EUA would not yet be considered FDA- approved. Our bipartisan legislation would address this oversight and ensure that COVID-19 vaccines would also be covered by Medicare if made available by an EUA.

I am pleased that the House of Representatives has already passed this provision as a part of the much broader Heroes Act. It is my hope that the Senate will follow suit immediately. It has been more than six months since the CARES Act was signed into law, and the need to provide additional relief to combat the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased. We are far overdue for another robust relief package, and it is shameful that the Senate has not yet acted to pass such a measure. It is critical that the Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccines for Seniors Act be considered swiftly in the Senate, along with a number of other critical efforts to help the American people during this difficult time. ______

By Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Casey, and Ms. Baldwin):

S. 4831. A bill to provide resources for States, State educational agencies, local educational agencies, educators, school leaders, and others to measure and address instructional loss in students in kindergarten through grade 12; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

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