What’s Up with Congress and Health Policy?

Congress has the power to improve patients’ access to affordable and transparent care. That’s why it’s important for patients to know which lawmakers support legislation that positively impacts patients across the country.To make this information accessible, Patients Rising Now created a beta 117th Congress Advocacy Scorecard.This inaugural report shows how many bills each chamber considered that would impact patients, and it tested whether lawmakers had opportunities to support pro-patient legislation or Dear Colleague letters.Spoiler alert: because Congress has been only voting on sweeping gigantic legislative packages, a lot of pro-patient policy never even made it to the floor for votes, and Members of Congress didn’t have enough bills to consider for our report card.We will be watching this trend and working on the Hill to make Members get the opportunity to vote on pro-patient policy. Next year with a more comprehensive scoring system, Members of Congress will also be notified when Patients Rising Now will be watching and grading specific votes that affect patients.  Hosts: Terry Wilcox, CEO, Patients RisingDr. Robert Goldberg, “Dr. Bob,” Co-Founder and Vice President of the Center for Medicine in the Public InterestGuests:Rachel Derby, Executive Director of Patients Rising NowDiane Talbert, Patient Correspondent and Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Patient AdvocateLinks: 117th Congress Advocacy ScorecardFind Polling and Voting information near youMidterm Elections Debrief Webinar RegistrationNeed help?The successful patient is one who can get what they need when they need it. We all know insurance slows us down, so why not take matters into your own hands? Our Navigator is an online tool that allows you to search a massive network of health-related resources using your zip code so you get local results. Get proactive and become a more successful patient right now at PatientsRisingConcierge.orgHave a question or comment about the show, or want to suggest a show topic or share your story as a patient correspondent?Drop us a line: podcast@patientsrising.orgThe views and opinions expressed herein are those of the guest(s)/ author(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of Patients Rising.