H. Res. 10 proposes a procedural change to the House Rules to create a new standing committee called the Committee on Health. The committee would have jurisdiction over biomedical research and development (including the FDA), health care and health facilities funded by general revenues (with certain veterans-related health excluded), and public health and quarantine (including the CDC). The resolution also would reallocate certain health-related jurisdiction from the existing Committees on Education and the Workforce and Energy and Commerce to the new Health Committee, by adjusting specific rule provisions. This is a rules change affecting how the House organizes its health policy work, not a change to federal statute. The short title given is the “House Endeavor to Accelerate a Legislative Transformation of Healthcare Act” or the HEALTH Act. As a House resolution, it would take effect only if adopted by the House; it does not by itself become law and would not directly dictate Senate action.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of a new standing Committee on Health, with explicit remit over:
- 2- Biomedical research and development (including the FDA)
- 3- Health, health facilities, and health care funded by general revenues (except veterans’ hospitals and veterans’ medical care)
- 4- Public health and quarantine (including the CDC)
- 5Exclusion for veterans’ health from the new committee’s scope, as indicated by the phrase “except veterans’ hospitals, medical care, and treatment of veterans.” Veterans’ health matters would remain outside this new committee’s jurisdiction.
- 6Conforming amendments to existing committees’ jurisdiction:
- 7- Education and the Workforce: Changes to its rule language to specify jurisdiction “generally (except health insurance programs).”
- 8- Energy and Commerce: Subparagraphs (1), (3), and (12) would be removed and the remaining subparagraphs renumbered, effectively reshaping what falls under its health-related oversight.
- 9This is a procedural rule change within the House. Adoption would require House action on the resolution; it does not pass as federal law and would not automatically apply in the Senate.
- 10Potential implications for oversight and policy making:
- 11- Health policy would be more centralized under one standing committee, potentially streamlining hearings, markups, and reporting on health issues.
- 12- Could affect how agencies like the FDA, CDC, and NIH are supervised and how health-related legislation is developed and advanced.