Fast Pass: A Victory For The Medical Supply Chain
Last Updated: February 2025
We did it. Fast Pass is now the law of the land. Just before the end of 2024, Congress approved and President Biden signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act.
This is a bipartisan victory for the medical supply chain, and a testament to the hard work that HIDA members have dedicated the last three years to convincing our elected officials of the need to expedite critical medical cargo.
Why We Need Fast Pass
Transportation is a healthcare issue. During the pandemic and the subsequent supply chain delays, healthcare distributors worked closely with ports and shippers to get critical medical products to patients and providers. But patients and providers still suffered from delays. A HIDA study of the medical supply chain found that during the West Coast port backlog of 2021-22, approximately 31,000-46,000 containers of critical medical supplies were delayed an average of 29 days throughout the transportation system.
How Fast Pass Got Enacted
For three years, HIDA has advocated for legislation that would help to expedite the flow of critical medical cargo through American ports. Fast Pass was initially introduced by Representatives Mike Ezell (R-MS) and John Garamendi (D-CA) as H.R. 6140, the Facilitate Access to Swiftly Transport Goods during a Publicly Announced State of Emergency Situation (FAST PASS) Act. It was unanimously approved by voice vote in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in March 2024, and then added as a bipartisan amendment to the House NDAA bill in June.
How The Medical Supply Chain Got It Done
HIDA members were our strongest and best advocates for Fast Pass. Members of our Shipping & Logistics Working Group provided persuasive evidence of cargo delays and the impact they had on patients and providers. Key members of the HIDA Board of Directors met at critical moments with key staff on committees of jurisdiction. And dozens of HIDA members have had hundreds of meetings with Congressional staffers at HIDA Washington fly-ins for three consecutive years.
What The New Law Does
The GAO study will cover the transportation of PPE through vessels and ports onto trucks or rail, and the role played by the Department of Transportation and other relevant federal agencies to expedite the transportation of PPE. The study will look at ways to improve the coordination among relevant federal agencies to expedite the transportation of PPE, and the impact (if any) that this might have on the transportation of other goods. The GAO study must be conducted within one year of enactment, and report back to Congress by the end of 2026.
What Comes Next?
It is now the job of everyone in the medical supply chain to help the GAO research their report, by telling the story of how we overcame multiple transportation obstacles to better serve our customers. We are eager to share best practices with the government that can be applied to supply chain bottlenecks in the future. If you would like to help us tell this story, please reach out to Wyeth Ruthven at ruthven@hida.org.