Sen. Cramer, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to ... - Kevin Cramer

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Angus King (I-ME) in reintroducing the Preventive Health Savings Act. The bipartisan, bicameral bill would direct the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide a more encompassing estimate of preventive health care impacts on the federal bottom line. 

"Preventive health care measures allow Americans to live longer, healthier lives and substantially lower the costs passed along to the taxpayer," said Senator Cramer. "Our bill updates existing CBO rules to better allow Congress to account for long-term savings generated by investments in preventive care."

Currently, the CBO analysis window is capped at 10 years. This legislation would permit congressional leaders to request CBO evaluations of preventive measures for two additional 10-year periods, which would quantify potential long-term savings. To enhance accuracy, the bill narrowly defines "preventive health care" as "an action designed to avoid future health care costs that is demonstrated by credible and publicly available epidemiological projection models, incorporating clinical trials or observational studies in humans, longitudinal studies, and meta-analysis."

Click here for bill text. 

The North Dakota Medical Association is among supporters of the legislation. For inclusion in the organization's ND Physician Winter 2023 magazine, Senator Cramer wrote an article titled "Better Accounting for Preventive Health Care." Read the piece here.