WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, today announced her appointment to the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The JEC, which is led by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Rep. David Schweikert (R, AZ-01), is tasked with reviewing economic conditions and recommending improvements to economic policy.
“At a time when Americans are struggling to make ends meet, it’s critically important for Congress to be coming together in a bipartisan and bicameral manner to implement pro-growth economic policies to expand our and develop solutions to reduce inflation, cut wasteful spending and allow the middle-class to keep more of their hard-earned money,”Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis said. “I’m honored to be appointed to the JEC and to be part of these important conversations to ensure an economically stable and more prosperous future for all Americans.”
Today, the JEC held a bipartisan hearing on the “Economic Impact of Diabetes,” to explore the individual and shared economic impact of diabetes and diabetes-related health complications. Witnesses testified on the economic costs and causes of the disease, the role of health and nutrition programs in diabetes prevention and treatment, and the role of pharmaceutical interventions, among other related topics.
More than 37 million Americans suffer from diabetes, while an additional 96 million Americans are pre-diabetic. In 2023, diabetes-related care cost $296 billion, accounting for 25% of all healthcare spending in the United States.
“We want to be proactive to help Americans stay healthy, to improve their quality of life, to lower their medical costs and to also save taxpayers’ money,” Malliotakis said during her remarks. “As the obesity rate in the U.S. continues to rise, so will the rate of diabetes…. The Congressional Budget Office has identified several options to rein in costs, however, many of these could be harmful to our seniors who are already suffering from inflation. Promising new drugs and medical devices such as GLP-1, Ozempic, and continuous glucose monitoring certainly should play a role in reducing the risk diabetics face and lowering costs for both individual finances and the federal government. Other innovations are happening in the healthcare space to treat diabetes, obesity and other diet-related diseases so people can live longer, healthier and happier lives.”
Malliotakis added: “During my time in Congress I’ve been advocating and pushing to require at least in part, or incentivize, SNAP recipients to purchase healthy foods. I’m joining Congressman Garbarino on an effort to end a ban on purchasing prepared and hot foods with SNAP, which would be a big step…to not allow the purchase of prepared or hot food I think is a mistake that probably pushes people into a different direction.”
