Top lawmakers to watch on health care this Congress

Your guide to the lawmakers most likely to shape health policy this year

It’s Day Four, and there’s still no House speaker.

Signs of a possible deal emerged last night, though it’s still unclear when exactly several holdouts could switch their vote to Kevin McCarthy. The idea is that doing so would show momentum, while McCarthy allies then pressure more holdouts, The Post’s Marianna Sotomayor, Jacqueline Alemany and Amy B Wang report.

No matter who wins the speakership, it doesn’t change the balance of power in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. And unlike Democrats — where progressives support universal coverage, while moderates want to build on Obamacare — there isn’t a ton of daylight among the various Republican factions’ thinking on health care.

With that in mind, here’s our list of the top lawmakers to watch in the 118th Congress:

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.): In 2021, McMorris Rodgers stepped into the top GOP slot on the Energy and Commerce Committee. She’s now poised to lead the panel for the first time and has laid out an agenda that includes probing the Biden administration’s covid policies and the high rate of deaths from fentanyl. She’s also planning oversight into how the federal health department decides to implement Democrats’ new drug-pricing policies and transparency into how much hospitals charge, the latter of which has been bipartisan. 

James Comer (R-Ky.): It’s no secret that Comer has been itching to investigate the Biden administration — and he’s poised to do so in his new position as chair-elect of the House Oversight Committee, a post that comes with subpoena power. Comer has been open about his plans to probe the origins of the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, federal funds supporting research done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and more. 

Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.): The registered nurse and former federal health department official is stepping into a new role this Congress: co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. During her time in the House, she’s been a strong proponent of policies to shore up the Affordable Care Act, as well as improve the nation’s maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women — and we expect those to be issues she spotlights in her new position. 

There’s one notable question mark. Who will chair the powerful Ways and Means Committee? That won’t be decided until there’s a speaker in place. Republicans Vern Buchanan (Fla.), Jason Smith (Mo.) and Adrian Smith (Neb.) are vying for the job. 

More from McMorris Rodgers: