New Senate Dem committee members to know on health

There are new Democratic members on the Senate committees that preside over health policy, though some are familiar faces from past health debates.

Here's whom to watch:

Senate Finance Committee

Bernie Sanders

• Sanders is well-known in health policy from his time as HELP Committee chair but now will also sit on the Finance Committee, which oversees one of his priorities, Medicare.
• Sanders said in a statement that he would focus on stopping "the privatization of Medicare," and would seek to expand the program to cover dental, hearing, vision and home care.
• He also wants to "move toward" Medicare for All.
• These will be tough tasks in a GOP Senate, but he will at least have another high-profile perch to make his case in hearings.

Raphael Warnock

• Warnock hails from a state that has not fully expanded Medicaid, so furthering the scope of the safety net program in the 10 non-expansion states is a priority.
• He has also been active in fighting diabetes and lowering the cost of insulin, leading one of the bills to extend the $35 cap beyond Medicare.
• "I will be a guardian on the committee against any efforts to gut critical safety net programs like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare," he said in a statement.

Peter Welch

• Both Vermont senators are on Finance, and Welch was an active player on health care dating to his House days, where he was a leading advocate for Medicare negotiating drug prices.
• Aaron White, a Welch spokesperson, said his priorities are to "ensure physicians are getting paid fairly, support independent and rural pharmacies, and lower drug prices — including by cracking down on the abusive PBM practices."

Senate HELP Committee

Andy Kim

• Kim is from New Jersey, home to many pharmaceutical companies, but is seen as less of an ally of the industry than his predecessor, Bob Menendez.
• Kim has championed the IRA provisions allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, for example.

• He also was first elected to the House in 2018, riding the wave of backlash to Affordable Care Act repeal efforts. He said in a statement that care is still "too expensive" and "too complicated."

Angela Alsobrooks

• Unlike the other new members, Alsobrooks does not have a background in Congress.
• During her campaign last year, she called for a "Medicare buy-in" option, which her website said "balances the critical need to cover all Americans while driving down costs of private insurance and ensuring those who enjoy their current insurance plans can continue to do so."
• She has also called for caps on out-of-pocket health costs and expanding drug price negotiations.

Lisa Blunt Rochester

• Blunt Rochester is another lawmaker making the jump from the House to the Senate this year. She put a focus on health care issues including maternal mortality in the lower chamber.
• Her office said her priorities in the Senate will include reforming PBMs, building the health care workforce, funding health centers, and fighting cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and the IRA.