Health

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s call to slow down COVID-19 testing. “The assertion by the president, joking or not, that the United States should slow down COVID-19 testing is all but an admission that he and his administration have failed to adequately respond to this pandemic. After dealing with this virus for nearly half a year, the administration has yet to develop a satisfactory national testing strategy, despite Congress... Read more

A bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives now supports the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 (H.R. 3107), introduced by Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Mike Kelly (PA-16), Roger Marshall, M.D. (KS-01), and Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07). The bill would streamline and standardize prior authorization in Medicare Advantage (MA) and make the use of prior authorization more transparent. 219 members of Congress are now cosponsors of the legislation. “Clinicians and m... Read more

The following statement can be attributed to Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01). “As Co-Chair of the Congressional Kidney Caucus, I welcome the announcement UW Medicine is leading the medical community in addressing racial bias in our health care system by no longer using race as a correction factor when determining kidney function. The race-based correction factor, which has no justified scientific purpose, is a perfect example of an artifact of decades-old racial bias at best that still impac... Read more

Representative Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement today after the Trump administration submitted a report to Congress outlining its national testing strategy: “Over 1,000 lives have been lost in Washington state from this pandemic. People in my district and across our state have been responding to this crisis the longest and they deserve leadership from the federal government. The Trump administration’s national testing strategy is neither national nor strategic. It continues... Read more

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its next major piece of urgently-needed legislation to address the COVID-19 outbreak, the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800). This bill will protect American lives and our economy from the devastation of this pandemic. “The House of Representatives continues to meet this historic crisis with bold action to protect Americans and ward off an economic catastrophe. This bill will make sure workers and families don’t have to choose between paying their rent and fee... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement in response to reports the Trump administration is considering creating a national COVID-19 surveillance system that would collect personal health data: “We need to be strategic in how we address the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. This includes making the best decisions regarding resource allocation or when to begin relaxing social distancing efforts, all informed by data and science. It is critical that we keep personal ... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement in response to recent comments by President Trump about voting by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic: “The president should be embarrassed by his recent comments about voting by mail. Forcing people to go to a polling location during a public health crisis is shameful. People should never have to choose between their health and exercising their right to vote during an election, like voters in Wisconsin were forced to do t... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released additional COVID-19 resources guides to help tribes, students, educators, and farmers navigate the benefits in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the historic $2 trillion relief package recently passed by Congress and signed into law. DelBene’s newly released guides are specific to: Agriculture K-12 Education Higher Education Tribes “Congress took historic action by passing the CARES Act and now it is incumbent upon... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Congressman Derek Kilmer (WA-06) led a bipartisan effort by the Washington congressional delegation calling on the Trump administration to immediately fulfill Washington state’s additional needs to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. “Ongoing support at the highest levels of the U.S. government is critical to our state’s ability to respond to this epidemic,” lawmakers say in a letter to Vice President Pence, the administration’s lead on COVID-19. “We reco... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene toured EvergreenHealth, the health system caring for many of the COVID-19 patients, to discuss its ongoing needs as the facility manages the outbreak. “I want to thank the staff and leadership at EvergreenHealth who have been working around the clock over the past week, alongside our local public health officials, to aid people in our community,” said Congresswoman DelBene. “I will continue working to make sure the federal government is providing the support an... Read more