"Surprisingly, I am the first physician to have chaired the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee," Cassidy reported.

Cassidy emphasized that he wants to maintain a good relationship with the Democrats on the committee, including Sanders.

"Although we have disagreed, and I have no doubt we'll continue to, when we work together and commit to the process, good things happen," Cassidy said. "It's my hope that we can build upon these previous efforts and find new ways to collaborate in this Congress."

Cassidy identified the high cost of prescription drugs as one area in which Senate HELP Democrats and Republicans have found common ground.

In May 2022, Senate HELP voted 18-3 to approve the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act bill. The bill, which had one Democratic co-sponsor and three Republican co-sponsors, would have set reporting requirements for PBMs that work with employer-sponsored health plans, required PBMs to pass all discounts they negotiate for employer plans onto the plans, required PBMs to submit to audits and established federal regulatory oversight for PBMs.

Related: PBM reform: Key Senate committee advances legislation targeting drug pricing practices

The act would have reformed malaligned incentives for PBMs, Cassidy said.

"We also passed legislation to bring lower-cost generic drugs more quickly to market, so that Americans can access these drugs at an affordable price," Cassidy said. "Although these did not pass last Congress, we will continue to advance them this Congress.

Cassidy said the believes that some moves by the Biden-Harris administration attempted to erode the flexibility of independent workers to stay independent.

"That anti-worker agenda is over," Cassidy said. "We have to find ways to protect gig flexibility while increasing access to portable benefits like retirement and health care."

Sanders said he hopes Senate HELP will continue to work on the bipartisan legislation it developed in the 118th Congress, such as the PBM legislation.

"I would hope, Mr. Chairman, that perhaps the first order of business would be for us to make sure that the legislation we reached agreement on last year gets signed into law," Sanders said. "Poll after poll shows that Republicans, Democrats and independents all want us to lower the outrageous cost of prescription drugs. Period. We should not pay 10 times more than the people of other countries."