Senator Marshall: Let’s Get These Bills to the President’s Desk

Senator Marshall Lays Out Top Priorities at Senate HELP Committee

Washington - On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), delivered remarks at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 'Member Day' - a time for members on and off the committee to discuss their legislative priorities with the Chairman.

Senator Marshall presented three bipartisan bills, emphasizing their potential impact and support from the President. The bills would address health care price transparency, a permanent joint employer standard, and delays in Medicare Advantage prior authorization. He urged the committee to prioritize these bills.

Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall's full remarks.

Highlights from the hearing include:

On Patients Deserve Price Tags Act:

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to a ranking member, and especially to our committee staffs, both the majority and minority, for taking the time to hear what our priorities are. I'm going to present three bills. They are bipartisan. They can make a huge impact. We have the votes to pass them. These are real bills that the President would sign. Our first one is our Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. I want to especially thank my co-sponsor, Senator Hickenlooper, for his help and work on this. Americans know the price of milk before they buy it. In health care, patients are handed a blank price tag. That ends with the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. The bill could save families potentially $1,000 a month. This bill could do more to impact the cost of health care than any legislation that I'm aware of, and we could change it right now. It could generate over $75 billion in new tax revenue over 10 years, independently verified by former CBO and JCT experts. It requires hospital labs and insurers to post real prices up front, give employers full claims data and audit rights and man mandates itemized bills after care stakeholders have been heard. The text is ready, and I asked the committee to make this a priority."

On the American Franchise Act:

"Next, I'm going to talk about our American Franchises Act, and want to thank my co-sponsor, Senator Angus King, for his friendship and leadership on this. There are over 800,000 franchise small businesses that employ almost 9 million Americans and generate $900 billion in economic output. These businesses have been one of America's greatest engines of opportunities. They give women, minorities, and veterans a path to their American dream. For a decade, they've been whipsawed by four different joint employer standards. The American franchise Act establishes one clear, permanent standard, ending the chaos and giving small business owners the certainty they need to hire and grow. Four standards in 10 years is chaos. I urge the committee, committee to give us a chance to mark up our American Franchises Act."

On Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act:

"Lastly, I'm going to talk about prior authorization. Our Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act. It's not on this committee, but so many people in this committee, we share the same priorities, and it touches health care in so many ways. Mostly for those on Medicare Advantage, prior authorization is the number one complaint I hear from seniors and physicians across Kansas. Nearly three out of four Medicare Advantage enrollees face unnecessary delays, delays in their health care, not because of their doctor's judgment, but because of an insurance company said no for seniors. Delay means misdiagnosis, worsening conditions, and irreversible harm. This bill has 67 Senate co-sponsors, 260 house co-sponsors. Our bill fixes that. It requires electronic prior authorization, real time decisions, and full transparency on denial rates. The votes are there, and I ask the finance committee to help us get this across the finish line and maybe even a chance for unanimous consent opportunities with the support of members of this committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back."

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