The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group released a roadmap for AI policy in the U.S. Senate, encouraging the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund cross-government artificial intelligence research and development projects, including research for biotechnology and applications of AI that would fundamentally transform medicine.
The group acknowledges AI's various use cases, including those within...
Senate Republicans introduced a new bill during the tail end of last week that seeks to increase transparency and ownership of personal health, geolocation, proximity and other related data collected by digital devices or systems during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The so-called COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act was introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker R-Miss.; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.;...
With the COVID-19 pandemic preventing large gatherings of any kind, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation last week was forced to hold its hearing on big data and privacy protections in response to the pandemic as a “paper hearing.” Participants submitted written testimony only. Lawmakers sent those experts questions, and the panel responded with written answers.
Despite...
This week, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation to strengthen privacy and security protections for consumers’ personal health data, specifically the data involved in DNA testing kits and health tracking apps.
WHAT HAPPENED
The Protecting Personal Health Data Act would require HHS to create standards to protect the sensitivity of genetic data,...
The FDA’s Pre-Cert program has fallen under new scrutiny as the agency received an open letter today from three senators: Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.).
The 12-page letter contains no less than 50 questions for the agency about the program, ranging from how it will derive its statutory authority to how it will pay for the program absent traditional...
Yesterday the senate overwhelmingly passed a new opioid bill in a 98-1 vote, with only Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) voting against it and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) not voting. The vote expands telemedicine services to people with opioid abuse disorder, exempting it from certain requirements. It also modifies the provisions regarding electronic prescriptions and post-surgical pain management.
Further...
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a slew of new bills that seek to increase access to telemedicine treatment for patients with substance abuse disorders. The proposed bills, three of which are telehealth-focused, are expected to be wrapped into a larger legislative package by the Senate Finance Committee and then undergo the markup process in the near future.
“While South Dakota is...
Senate Bill 870, the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic Care Act of 2017, or CHRONIC Act for short, has passed in the Senate by a unanimous vote. Among other things, the bill, which was originally introduced in April by Senator Orrin Hatch (R - Utah), includes provisions that would expand Medicare coverage for telemedicine.
Along with expanding telemedicine...
While the Senate’s efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act imploded last week, that hasn’t stopped lawmakers from introducing bills that would make tweaks to the healthcare system in smaller ways. One such bill, sponsored by Reps. Doris Matsui, (D-California), and Bill Johnson, (R-Ohio), would expand the use of telemedicine to reduce costs.
The bill, the Evidence-Based Telehealth...
On Tuesday, Representative Tom Price, President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, faced his second confirmation hearing, this time before the Senate Finance Committee (previously he had gone before the Health committee). In between questions about Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, his questionable investments, and his relationship with President Trump, Price fielded some...
