Key Congressional Committees Affecting Quality Cancer Care
Senate Finance Committee
The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction in the areas of taxes, Medicare, Medicaid, and some other entitlements.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee
The HELP committee has jurisdiction over any legislation relating to health, education, labor, and pensions. This committee develops legislation related to programs at the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and has jurisdiction over the National Institutes of Health.
House Ways and Means Committee
The House Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over revenue measures that raise funds for the use of the government. In addition, the committee exercises broad oversight authority over economic policy, international trade, welfare, Social Security, Medicare, and healthcare policy.
The House Ways and Means Committee contains six subcommittees: Social Security, Trade, Human Resources, Oversight, Select Revenue Measures, and Health.
The Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Health is responsible for a broad range of critical health-related issues, such as Medicare, the Patient's Bill of Rights, and other areas of healthcare reform.
House Energy and Commerce Committee
The Committee on Energy and Commerce has served as the principal guide for the U.S. House of Representatives in matters relating to the promotion of commerce and to the public health and marketplace interests. This committee maintains principal responsibility for legislative oversight relating to telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health, air quality and environmental health, the supply and delivery of energy, and interstate and foreign commerce in general. This jurisdiction extends over five Cabinet-level departments and seven independent agencies, including the Energy Department, Department of Health and Human Services, Transportation Department, Federal Trade Commission, and Federal Communications Commission, as well as various quasi-governmental organizations.
To manage the wide variety of issues it encounters, the committee relies on six subcommittees.
The Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health has jurisdiction over the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Food and Drug Administration. It deals with issues relating to medical research, drug safety and approval processes, Medicare and Medicaid, and health insurance coverage, among other related issues.
