Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023
Key claim: Public Law 118-233 requires the Department of the Interior to include the Department of Health and Human Services in consultations on designations of critical minerals, elements, substances, and materials because of their importance to healthcare.
Abstract
(HR6395 · 118th Congress) Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023 This act requires the Department of the Interior to include the Department of Health and Human Services in consultations regarding designations of critical minerals, elements, substances, and materials. Latest action (2025-01-04): Became Public Law No: 118-233.
Why this matters
The law expands the interagency footprint of DOI’s critical-minerals designation process by embedding HHS in consultations, meaning healthcare supply-chain vulnerabilities (medical devices, radioisotopes, pharmaceutical inputs) can now formally influence which materials receive critical-minerals status. Because that status carries downstream consequences for permitting priority, federal financing, and mining policy on public lands, the statute effectively links health-sector needs to energy and minerals policy for the first time.