New House Dem committee members to know on health

The new crop of Democratic House members joining House panels that oversee health policy have interests including PBMs, drug pricing and reproductive health.

Why it matters: Even though Democrats are in the minority, they may find common ground with Republicans on PBM reform or ways to promote innovation in medical research.

Here's whom to know:

Energy and Commerce Committee

The House Democratic steering committee has appointed seven new members to Energy and Commerce: Jake Auchincloss, Troy Carter, Rob Menendez, Kevin Mullin, Greg Landsman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jennifer McClellan.

• Ocasio-Cortez, Auchincloss, Carter and Landsman were appointed Tuesday to the E&C health subcommittee.

Jake Auchincloss

• The third-term Massachusetts lawmaker became more active on health policy in the last Congress, especially on PBMs.
• He sponsored the Pharmacists Fight Back Act with Diana Harshbarger. It's being branded as the "most comprehensive PBM reform" bill and includes policies on spread pricing, delinking companies' compensation, rebate pass-throughs and transparent reimbursement.
• Auchincloss also cosponsored the DRUG Act with Mariannette Miller-Meeks, which would implement delinking requirements in the commercial insurance market.

Kevin Mullin

• Mullin, who represents South San Francisco, will look out for California biotech interests now that Anna Eshoo has retired from Congress.
• The second-term congressman cites advancing medical research and maintaining innovation among his priorities and has joined the Biomedical Research, Rare Disease and Personalized Medicine caucuses.
• His office shared that he wears hearing aids in both ears and is intent on advocating for disability rights and the hard-of-hearing community.
• He has cosponsored legislation on long COVID research, FDA modernization and expanding the FDA priority review voucher program.

Greg Landsman

• The second-term congressman from Ohio also signed on to PBM legislation in the last Congress.
• He cosponsored the Medicare PBM Accountability Act, which would require PBMs to report their cost savings and is similar to the Senate Finance Committee's MEPA package.
• The first bill he introduced in Congress was to cap the cost of insulin for children and young adults, to ensure those who are 26 and under wouldn't pay more than $35 per month.

Jennifer McClellan

• The second-term lawmaker from Virginia has been active on abortion rights and reproductive health care, both in her time in the state legislature and in the previous Congress.

• She has cosponsored legislation on increasing access to birth control and IVF, studying uterine cancer and uterine fibroids, protecting maternal health and expanding the Medicare drug price negotiation program.

Ways and Means Committee

The steering committee picked three Democrats who had previously served on the committee — Brendan Boyle, Stacey Plaskett and Tom Suozzi, who had left Congress for an unsuccessful run for New York governor.

Brendan Boyle

• Boyle is the ranking member of the House Budget Committee and has been vocal in opposing some of the health policies floated by GOP Chair Jodey Arrington in the last Congress. He's also a member of the Ways and Means health subcommittee.
• House Budget Democrats under Boyle previously criticized Medicare site-neutral payments in a report, characterizing them as payment cuts to providers. Site-neutral policies often have bipartisan support.
• He's also active in advocating for lung cancer study and prevention.

Stacey Plaskett

• Plaskett is the non-voting delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• She's emphasized how she secured a permanent extension of the Medicaid federal funding rate in the Virgin Islands to 83%, thus stopping the Medicaid funding cliff in the territory.
• Plaskett has also cosponsored legislation on reproductive and maternal health.