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A bill to support healthcare workers struggling with burnout, stress and other work-related mental health problems advanced in Congress on a unanimous subcommittee vote Tuesday. The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act of 2024, named after a New York physician who died by suicide in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorizes five years of grant programs, building on the previous, shorter-term legislation, which expires at the end of the year. (McAuliff, 3/12)

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) poured some cold water on former President Trump’s recent comments about launching another effort to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, telling reporters Tuesday the fight over the law seems “largely over.” McConnell said he would not weigh in directly on the “development” of Trump’s policy agenda and acknowledged the possibility that Republicans would tackle health care reform if Trump can come up with a viable policy alternative. (Bolton, 3/12)

In interviews this week, Democrats sketched out their top priorities: The House-passed tax deal; a rail safety bill responding to the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio; cannabis banking legislation, a new farm bill, a package of community health center funding and action to lower drug prices; and a new FAA bill. (Everett, 3/12)

US Senator Marc Rubio (R-FL) yesterday sent a letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, expressing his concerns about the CDC's proposed guidelines recommending the use of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) to reduce sexually transmitted infections (STIs). (Dall, 3/12)

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., led several senators in a letter Wednesday demanding an audit of Medicare after reports of massive fraud emerged. (Johnson, 3/13)