US hospital group urges Senate action on medical supply chain vulnerabilities

The American Hospital Association has called on US lawmakers to strengthen domestic pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains, warning that heavy reliance on foreign manufacturing poses risks to patient care and hospital operations.

In written testimony submitted to a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on October 8, the hospital industry group highlighted structural weaknesses in medical supply chains that leave healthcare providers exposed to potential disruptions.

Foreign dependency concerns

The two-hour Senate hearing examined America's dependence on overseas manufacturers for essential medicines and medical equipment. Industry experts from organisations including the Brookings Institution and the Coalition for a Prosperous America provided testimony on strategies to incentivise domestic production and ensure quality controls for imported medical products.

The AHA noted that economic fundamentals pose challenges to reshoring production. "The low-margin nature of these products makes them difficult to produce within the US," the association stated, while warning that supply disruptions "would curtail hospitals' ability to perform life-saving surgeries and keep patients safe from contagion."

Legislative proposals

The hospital group has backed two pieces of pending legislation aimed at addressing supply chain vulnerabilities. The Mapping America's Pharmaceutical Supply Act would authorise the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Defense to chart the nation's pharmaceutical supply chain infrastructure.

The AHA also supports the Rolling Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug Reserve Act, introduced this year, which would establish contracts requiring generic drug manufacturers to maintain six-month reserves of critical medications and their active ingredients as a buffer against shortages.

The testimony underscores growing bipartisan concern in Washington over medical supply chain resilience, an issue that gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic when shortages of protective equipment and medicines exposed gaps in domestic manufacturing capacity.