Matsui Sends Six Bills to the House Floor

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed six bills authored by Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA). In total, the Committee voted favorably to report 30 bipartisan bills to the full House of Representatives, including 17 bills aimed at improving quality and access to health care. These bills are now ready to be considered on the House floor.

"As we face the uncertainty of this time, we are continuing to take meaningful steps to advance legislation that will have an immense impact for Sacramento and across the nation," said Congresswoman Matsui. "My six bills passed by the Committee today deliver concrete solutions from our communications networks and emergency preparedness, to improving telehealth access, mental health care and the safety of prescription drug and food labels. I am committed to working on the issues that will lead to significant, positive change for Sacramento, and I urge the full House to vote on these important bills immediately."

The six bills are:

• The Telemental Health Expansion Act: This legislation would permanently include a patient's home as an eligible originating site for mental health services delivered via telehealth and remove Medicare's geographic restrictions for such services, enabling providers to be reimbursed by Medicare for mental health services delivered via telehealth in urban areas like Sacramento and in the patient's home.
• The Suicide Prevention Act: This legislation establishes two grant programs to enhance the data collection of suicide attempts and self-harm, and to provide a better training program for hospital emergency room staff to implement suicide prevention strategies, screen at-risk patients, and refer patients to appropriate follow-up care.
• The Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act: This legislation requires sesame be added to the list of allergens that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires be labeled by name in packaged foods. The FASTER Act is the first meaningful food allergy legislation at the federal level in more than a decade and would improve the lives of millions of Americans.
• The Making Objective Drug Evidence Revisions for New (MODERN) Labeling Act: This legislation allows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to update outdated generic drug labels to reflect new clinical information that would benefit how a provider prescribes or patient uses a prescription drug.
• Emergency Reporting Act: As we prepare for wildfire season, this bill would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct field hearings, reporting, and policy recommendations in order to help ensure that all disasters, regardless of their location, receive the necessary time and resources. Additionally, the Emergency Reporting Act would improve standards that require mobile carriers to report network outages to 911 centers.
• USA Telecommunications Act: This legislation would authorize up to $750 million for a grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, in consultation with the FCC and other federal agencies, to promote and accelerate the deployment and use of open interfaced, standards-based, and interoperable 5G networks throughout the United States.

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