House Passes Eight Health Care Bills
House Members Divided on Fentanyl Analogue Scheduling
Rep. Kevin Brady to Retire
Senate
Bipartisan Bill Would Require Cost-Free Breast Cancer Diagnostic Tests
Senators Ask HHS Secretary Becerra to Enforce Hospital Price Transparency Rule
Administration
HHS Secretary Becerra Approves Illinois Waiver for One-Year Postpartum Coverage
HHS to Roll Back Title X “Gag Rule”
HHS Secretary Becerra Confirms That Department Will Have Feedback Process on Surprise Billing
CMS Extends 2022 Deadline for Primary Care First Demonstration
Consumers First Coalition Recommends CMS Undertake Medicare Reforms
IRS Suspends Requirement That Taxpayers Repay Advanced Premium Tax Credits
FDA Details Plan for Remote Facility Inspections
Matt Fuller
Apr 18, 2021 4:40 PM ET
While it is technically true that there is not proactive language in the bill preventing “the funding of aborted fetal tissue,” that’s also true of nearly every bill Congress votes on. It also has very little to do with the legislation.
The bill is actually a reauthorization of two programs: The C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, a program named after a former Republican Congressman which helps match bone marrow and umbilical cord blood with people in need, and the National Cord Blood Inventory Program. That program also provides funding for the collection and storage of umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, both of which can be used to help treat diseases like cancer, anemia, and other immune system disorders.
Welcome to Friday’s Overnight Health Care. Anthony Fauci has probably done hundreds of interviews in the past year, but we are most excited to watch him talk with former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch aka "Beastmode."
Today: The Biden administration reversed a ban on fetal tissue research. Johnson & Johnson scientists said they do not see a casual relationship between their vaccine and blood clots and the Biden administration is investing $1.7 billion into combating COVID variants.
We ll start at the NIH:
It’s official: NIH reverses Trump administration s ban on fetal tissue research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) officially on Friday rescinded the ban on using fetal tissues in research, reversing a Trump-era policy instituted almost two years ago.
In a notice, the agency announced it was overturning the Trump administration’s policy that an ethics board to review all applicants for NIH grants involving fetal tissue from elective abortions. Trump also blocked NIH scientists from obtaining new fetal tissue derived from abortions for research purposes.
Ms. Greene and Ms. Boebert, who have already caused a considerable amount of controversy since joining Congress in January, accordingly faced criticism for voting against funding the programs further.
Erick Sanchez, a Democratic activist and adviser, ripped the congresswomen on Twitter for voting against reauthorizing the program.
“These two are truly reprehensible human beings,” he tweeted.
“This blows my MIND!” actress and comedian Mo Collins tweeted from her verified account. “These 2 are NOT in Gov to help. They are simply there to start fires.”
Ms. Boebert said Friday that she opposed the bill because she believed it would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the national debt and because it had not been considered in committee yet.