On Friday, the news came out that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) would move back to chair the Finance Committee, leaving the top post at the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley led the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) Republicans from 2001 through 2010. If past is prologue, let’s take a moment to consider Grassley’s previous tenure on health care and oversight at SFC.

Grassley led SFC for the 2003 passage of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). The MMA created the Medicare drug benefit, Part D, and changed the structure of Medicare Part C to what we now know as Medicare Advantage. In 2005, he was chair for the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act, which included a provision allowing states to provide Medicaid benefits through benchmark benefit plans.