Today, Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07) announced that he secured in the House Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations package $450,000 to support critical job training programs for Sacramento-area young adults on the autism spectrum."I'm proud to have secured $450,000 in the House passage of the FY 2022 House Labor-HHS Appropriations bill to support the important job training programs that… Read more »
Today, the House of Representatives passed Representative Ami Bera's (D-CA) Securing America From Epidemics (SAFE) Act. The SAFE Act would authorize United States participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a public-private partnership developing vaccines for COVID-19 and other highly infectious pathogens that could become the next global pandemic. The… Read more »
Elk Grove Congressman Ami Bera is urgently calling on the FDA to grant full approval of COVID-19 vaccines now being used under "emergency use" authorizations.Bera, D-Elk Grove, in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted Friday on his website, voiced concern over the rising numbers of COVID cases among unvaccinated people and said federal regulators must take quick… Read more »
Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA), former Chief Medical Officer for Sacramento County, today sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock urging the FDA to grant full approval for COVID-19 vaccines as quickly as possible. The letter comes amid a worrying spike in COVID-19 cases in unvaccinated populations across the country.In the letter,… Read more »
Any infrastructure plan passed by Congress should address broadband access for telemedicine, Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif) said at Axios event Thursday.Why it matters: Virtual doctor's appointments and therapy sessions could be the norm, even as more people get vaccinated, and offices open to patients. But many communities, like Native American tribes, lack access to high-speed internet. There… Read more »
Today, Representatives Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Mike Kelly (PA-16), and Larry Bucshon (IN-08) introduced the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act, bipartisan legislation that would improve care for seniors by streamlining and standardizing the way Medicare Advantage (MA) plans use prior authorization and increasing oversight and transparency around prior… Read more »
Representative Ami Bera (CA-07), a member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Friday led four Democratic Members of Congress in applauding the Biden administration for their global health initiatives since taking office, and urged the administration to include regular funding for… Read more »
Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation, yesterday reintroduced H.R. 2118, the Securing America From Epidemics (SAFE) Act. The SAFE Act, which passed the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress, would authorize U.S. participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness… Read more »
Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA) last week introduced H.R. 1796, the Health Care Enrollment Innovation Act, legislation that will help states experiment with innovative ways to expand health insurance coverage for more Americans."As a doctor, I know access to quality and affordable health care is essential to families across the country. But for far too many families, navigating… Read more »
Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA) released the following statement after voting for final passage of the American Rescue Plan, which now heads to President Biden's desk for signature into law."With over 500,000 lives lost, over 18 million Americans unemployed, and millions more hungry and without proper housing, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the crisis of our lifetimes," said… Read more »
