On Jan. 16, the AAMC and 125 other organizations joined a letter urging congressional leadership to reauthorize the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). The letter asked Congress to include a five-year PAHPA reauthorization package in the next legislative vehicle and warned that further delays to reauthorization would hinder the nation’s economic well-being and health security. It also encouraged Congress to work together in a bipartisan manner to reauthorize PAHPA and pointed to 17 years of bipartisanship for the legislation.
The overall PAHPA framework expired on Sept. 30, 2023, but lawmakers have been extending certain provisions in the annual spending continuing resolutions since then, most recently through March 8 (see related story). “The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s direct hire authority for the National Disaster Medical System” and “authorities related to public-private partnerships under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority” are a few of the provisions extended according to the summary by the Senate Appropriations Committee.