Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
It was quite a year in health care, with plenty of reasons to chase lawmakers through the halls of Congress.
- In the spirit of giving, here are some carefully considered awards to grace the holiday season.
1. Oddest couple: This one was easy. Some in the health care world are still scratching their heads at the partnership between Vermont progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders and Kansas conservative Sen. Roger Marshall on a primary care bill.
- They even did a joint pen and pad with reporters! We'll find out in the new year if their bill gets anywhere.
2. Best tweets (X's?): Sen. Bill Cassidy takes home this award for his direct-to-camera videos, including this gem of the senator throwing a bag of tea in the trash to commemorate the Boston Tea Party.
3. Most memorable hearing or markup: It's not every day that a markup gets hastily postponed halfway through. But that's just what happened in May's Senate HELP markup on PBMs, amid a lot of confusion and back-and-forth around which amendments would be added to the underlying agreement.
- Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine finally suggested postponing the proceedings. The bills did advance on a bipartisan basis the following week.
4. Biggest health care targets: While the 118th Congress' first session had its share of political drama, health policy kept chugging along. Transparency would have to take the cake as the biggest topic in the House, while the vast number of PBM bills among the committees puts it at the top of the Senate.
- One emerging topic that's building to a scald is AI in health care, though there still aren't a ton of bills or consensus on what government should do.
5. Most prolific letter writer(s): House Energy and Commerce Republicans led by Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers penned the most letters this session, often averaging several per month to Biden administration executive agencies.
- Small wonder, considering the committee's wide ranging jurisdiction, and keen interest in oversight of the CDC and NIH post-COVID. In just the last month, the GOP committee leaders have sent two to the CDC on respiratory viruses and lab safety and one to the FDA on foreign drug inspections.
6. Best hallway interview: Rep. Brett Guthrie, E&C health subcommittee chairman, always makes time to answer reporter's questions, particularly this year when the House's transparency package was in flux and when Medicaid work requirements were potentially on the table during the debt ceiling negotiations.
- It's not just the substance but the tidbits, such as when he told us McMorris Rodgers' flight was canceled or that he's planning to call Sen. Bill Cassidy about the transparency legislation.
7. Best quote: "Lobbyists are pretty much the only opposition." That was Brookings' Loren Adler at an E&C hearing in April on site neutral payments. It was even more notable because he said it while sitting next to an American Hospital Association vice president at the witness stand.
8. Biggest surprise: The House abruptly canceled the September vote on its big health cost transparency package. To be fair, it was amid appropriations chaos and during the buildup to then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster. And the bill then passed this month on a big bipartisan vote!
9. Most enthusiastic use of health care charts: This goes to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. He's displayed them in Finance Committee hearings, and now as Senate Budget Committee chairman, can do it in that committee, too. Here he is in October nerding out over CBO health spending data.
10. Best Capitol sandwich: Hands down, the House's specialty: the Rayburn Reuben, which Victoria has vigorously promoted this past year.
- While some question if it's "technically" a reuben since it has turkey instead of corned beef or pastrami, the sauce-to-meat-and-coleslaw ratio and the $5.25 price is beyond reproach, making it one of the best bargains on the Hill.
