On May 5 and 6, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.) held field hearings in his home state of Louisiana, during which he highlighted his legislative achievements in the health care space. During the first hearing, “Making Health Care Affordable Again Part 2: Perspectives from Employers, Patients, and Providers,” he touted his efforts to promote health care affordability including his Money and Value for Patients (MVP) health care agenda, which would provide funds directly to patients to incentivize consumer-directed health care. In a key exchange with witnesses, Cassidy discussed his concern with the 340B Drug Pricing Program, asserting that the program drives health care spending by incentivizing providers to prescribe more expensive medications. He recently led a yearslong investigation into the program, highlighting opportunities for congressional oversight and reform [refer to Washington Highlights, April 25, 2025].
The second hearing, “From Crisis to Care: Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment Across the Continuum of Care,” featured mental health advocates, providers, and a former official in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Throughout the hearing, Cassidy emphasized his efforts to increase access to treatment for substance use disorder, including his role in drafting and reauthorizing the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act, P.L. 115-271, PDF), which funds community-based treatment and recovery programs and requires Medicaid programs to provide coverage for certain medications for opioid use disorder.