{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-hhs-secretary-nominee-price-discuss-rural-hospitals-medicaid-oversight", "Grassley, HHS Secretary Nominee Price Discuss Rural Hospitals, Medicaid Oversight, Soaring Drug Prices and Remedies", "2016-12-08", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Charles Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sen. Chuck Grassley today met with Rep. Tom Price, President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s nominee to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. \u00a0Grassley is a senior member and former chairman of the Finance Committee, which will consider the nomination. \u00a0Grassley made the following comment on the meeting.\u201cI congratulated Dr. Price on his nomination and told him I\u2019d appreciate having a member of Congress at the head of such a critical agency. \u00a0Congress is the people\u2019s branch of government, and having a member of Congress at the agency would bring responsiveness to the public and I hope to Congress on our oversight inquiries.\u201cWe discussed the importance of caring for people with complex medical needs, such as cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome, in Medicaid. \u00a0Coordinated care for such individuals is a major, ongoing challenge. \u00a0I said making sure taxpayer money is well-spent is always a priority, so even if we give states more control over Medicaid, we would still need federal oversight to make sure services are delivered as intended. \u00a0\u201cWe discussed critical access hospitals. \u00a0There are 82 such hospitals located throughout Iowa and many others throughout the country. \u00a0They provide a lifeline in small, rural communities. \u00a0I raised the ongoing problem of doctors in rural states like Iowa getting reimbursed less than their counterparts in other parts of the country, despite regularly offering better quality of care. \u00a0This is something I\u2019d like to see fixed definitively.\u201cDr. Price and I discussed soaring drug prices and some of the remedies I\u2019m working on. \u00a0These include reimportation, the CREATES Act to address abuses by brand drug companies to block generic competition, and the bill to limit pay-for-delay agreements between brand and generic companies that delay the entry of cheaper drugs into the market. \u00a0We touched on the practice of \u2018evergreening,\u2019 where drug makers slightly tweak a product to hang onto a patent. \u00a0\u201cIt was a good conversation about some of the many issues of interest to the people of Iowa and the American people on the whole. \u00a0I look forward to covering these issues and many more at Dr. Price\u2019s nomination hearing.\u201d\u00a0-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-hhs-secretary-nominee-price-discuss-rural-hospitals-medicaid-oversight"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4895601198077202, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}