Welcome to my health care newsletter! Health care has always been an important topic to me, but especially this year, with so much happening, it is important to stay informed on what’s going on in the health care world. If you are interested in staying more up-to-date please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for daily updates on how I am serving the people of South Carolina. 

COVID Testing and Vaccines

Last Friday, the FDA authorized a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Then, on Saturday, a CDC advisory committee unanimously voted to recommend it for public use. On Monday, we began to see our brave health care workers taking the vaccine, with some of them right at home here in South Carolina! Within the next week, we may see an emergency use authorization granted to a second COVID-19 vaccine as well, with this one developed by Moderna. I am so thankful for all of the doctors, nurses, biomedical innovators, and other health care professionals who have served faithfully on the front lines during this pandemic. These vaccines are just the beginning of our road to normalcy.

The past week has also seen major breakthroughs in testing innovation. Last week, the FDA authorized a direct-to-consumer COVID-19 testing system. Labcorp’s pixel COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit is an at-home testing kit that anyone 18 years or older can use to get tested without a prescription. With this test, you can perform the nasal swab in the safety and comfort of your own home and send the sample to a lab for results. Earlier this week, the FDA continued this streak of exciting testing developments by authorizing the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test, which consumers can purchase over-the-counter and use to generate rapid testing results in the home within 20 minutes. These at-home testing advancements will help to mitigate the spread of the virus by dramatically expanding access to convenient testing options for Americans, including in South Carolina. 

If you are interested in learning more about my involvement in health care legislation this year, I did a Two with Tim: 12 Days of Christmas video with one of my staffers, where we discuss COVID-19 testing, Operation Warp Speed, and more. You can watch here! Also, thank you for continuing to preserve social protocols like washing your hands, wearing a mask, and maintaining a distance of 6 feet apart.

Expansion of Telehealth

On Sunday evening, I released an opinion piece with the Greenville News on the importance of telehealth expansion. COVID-19 has presented scores of unprecedented challenges, particularly for some of our most vulnerable communities. Many Americans have struggled to access high-quality health care services during the pandemic, in some cases out of fear of contracting the virus by visiting a doctor’s office or other facility. Thanks to efforts by Congress and the Administration, we have substantially expanded access to telehealth coverage for the duration of the pandemic emergency. In order to ensure that South Carolinians can continue to take advantage of high-quality telehealth services, even after the pandemic subsides, I have worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to increase connectivity for rural and underserved communities, as well as to codify increased telehealth access, particularly under Medicare, which covers more than one million South Carolinians. 

This week has seen game-changing steps forward in COVID-19 vaccine development and access. Outside of vaccines, which of the following do you see as the most important-and most useful-tool in combating the COVID-19 pandemic?

Over-the-counter, at home COVID-19 testing COVID-19 therapies (such as antibody therapies developed by Regeneron and Eil Lily) Telehealth and home broadband Additional PPE and other supplies Other (please specify)

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PAID Act

This week, my Provide Accurate Information Directly (or PAID) Act was signed into law. This bipartisan bill, which I wrote with Senator Cardin last year, passed the Senate unanimously last Friday before heading to the President’s desk. This bill allows more transparency in beneficiary information, which will help to resolve certain claims related to Medicare plans more efficiently. 

This bill will save tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through updates to the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) statute. Under MSP, non-Medicare payers cover some medical expenses related to Medicare beneficiaries- such as Workers’ Compensation and VA benefits.  There are holes in the Medicare system that have harmed seniors, job creators, and the American taxpayer, and this law takes an important step towards modernizing the entire system.

Thank you for subscribing to my Healthcare newsletter. Don’t forget – you can sign up for similar newsletters on education, connectivity, and a variety of other issues here.

Have a merry Christmas everyone!

Sincerely,