Ten years of HIDA advocacy.
By Wyeth Ruthven, Director of Congressional Relations and Public Relations, Health Industry Distributors Association
Ten years is a long time in lobbying.
Ten years ago, HIDA launched its first Washington Summit and Fly-In. The idea was to bring representatives of the medical supply chain – both distributors and their manufacturer partners – to Capitol Hill.
This year, more than 80 HIDA member executives flew into Washington D.C. to ask Congressional leaders to support legislation to strengthen the medical supply chain.
- Participants met with key staff members in the offices of 75 Senators and Representatives from 35 states. Of these meetings, 48 were with the House of Representatives and with 27 Senate offices.
- HIDA members met with a bipartisan spectrum of elected officials, including 40 Republicans, 34 Democrats and 1 Independent.
Many of these meetings were with members on committees with jurisdiction over the medical supply chain, including the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Keynote speaker Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) emphasized the need for a more resilient medical supply chain, and expressed her support for ongoing funding for domestic manufacturing and supply chain resiliency initiatives. Senator Collins was instrumental in passage of the PREVENT Pandemics Act, HIDA’s top priority in 2022. Senator Collins authored provisions to make the medical supply chain more resilient, strengthen the Public Health Workforce through student loan relief, and professional development for HHS employees through fellowships and leadership exchange programs.
In Hill meetings, HIDA members stressed several key issues essential to strengthening the medical supply chain:
- Getting Critical Medical Supplies To Patients And Providers. H.R. 6140, the Facilitating Access to Swiftly Transport Goods during a Publicly Announced State of Emergency Situation (FAST PASS) is a bipartisan bill directing Secretary of Transportation to examine efforts to expedite the movement of critical cargo through ports.
- Preparing For the Next Public Health Emergency. HIDA supports reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). The federal government uses its authority under PAHPA to assist healthcare providers responding to infectious disease outbreaks and global pandemics, including Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19. It has also supported hospitals following natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires and floods.
- Building Resiliency Into The Medical Supply Chain. HIDA shared with Congress the findings of its recently published Supply Chain Resiliency Road Map, which articulated five pillars to support domestic manufacturing of medical supplies and maintain robust stockpiles. Executives advocated for a strategic blend of domestic, near-shored, and global production in order to maintain a resilient supply chain that can surge to meet the demand of future emergencies.
HIDA’s Washington Summit highlighted the critical need for legislative support to enhance the resilience of the healthcare supply chain. The combined efforts of the summit participants have laid a strong foundation for ongoing legislative action to secure and strengthen the medical supply chain.