Schrier Bill Seeks Greater Public Health Preparedness

Congresswoman Kim Schrier has introduced the bipartisan Diagnostics Testing Preparedness Plan Act.

A physician by trade, Schrier hopes to bolster diagnostic innovation and development during public health emergencies. She says this can be achieved through public-private collaboration.

Her bill strives for improved testing capacity, which she says was grievously hit-or-miss during the the COVID-19 pandemic. (However true that may be of the United States, some of our peer nations met the moment, Schrier says. South Korea, for example, conducted thousands of drive-thru tests every day.) The bill would require HHS to create - and assiduously update - a strategic plan for rapid diagnostic test deployment.

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The legislation was cosponored by Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who stresses the primacy of a comprehensive testing strategy.

Another cosponsor, Democrat Andre Carson, says the bill would allow for greater cohesion and coordination in times of crisis.