Healthcare

Tonight we saw a deeply unpopular President struggling to remain relevant and succeeding only in proving how out of touch he is with the American people.

There are millions of Americans who don't have health insurance. The president has had six years to do something about that, and he's done nothing. Now he is proposing raising taxes on middle class Americans to fund a system that still leaves millions uninsured.

Last year, just a week after saying that America is 'addicted to oil' in his State of the Union, the President sent Congress a budget that shortchanged the development of the alternative fuels and technologies needed to make America energy independent. He has had six years to do something about energy independence and global warming, and he's done nothing.

He has had six years to act in a bipartisan fashion, and we know he hasn't done that. Read more...

I am encouraged by the President’s initiatives on health care and education outlined in tonight’s State Of The Union address, and I applaud his commitment to pursue needed health care and education legislation in a bipartisan manner. I am confident that by working with the Administration and with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we can achieve our goals of greater access to health care and stronger schools.

President Bush struck the right chord this evening, outlining a plan to focus tax incentives on helping working families afford basic health insurance. He also once again stressed his commitment to support market-based health insurance pooling for small businesses so that America’s working families will have the right to choose health insurance plans that meet their health insurance needs. Read more...

Last week, a coalition of the most influential stakeholders in health care announced a new plan to extend health care coverage to approximately half of America’s uninsured population. Physicians groups, including the American Medical Association, joined health insurers, consumer groups, hospitals, and business groups to set aside their separate agendas and work together to cover the uninsured through the Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured (HCCU).

Today, nearly 47 million Americans, including more than 8 million children, are living without health coverage, and that number continues to grow. Uninsured patients live sicker and die younger than Americans with health coverage. The uninsured do not receive the preventive care they need, and often put off seeing the doctor until their health problem requires urgent care in an emergency setting. Read more...

The women and men working in America's hospitals see firsthand the consequences of having no insurance.  We know those who try to navigate their health care without the benefit of health insurance – fathers, mothers and their children – urgently need help.  One in seven Americans does not have health coverage.  For most uninsured people, that means they do not have ready access to health care.

Ron – a gentleman who came to one of our hospitals – was laid off without insurance and two months away from enrolling in Medicare when he had a heart attack.  Like everyone who comes through our emergency department doors, we screened and treated Ron, giving him the care he needed to recover from his heart attack and helping him get back on his feet and back to his life. Read more...

At best, the prescription drug legislation the House passed Friday would have little or no impact on costs - as the CBO has indicated. At worst, it would reduce seniors' access to the wide range of prescription drugs that would otherwise be covered and increase costs for veterans.

Seniors should be able to choose their doctors, pick their pharmacies, and have access to the drugs their doctors prescribe. This legislation would compromise that. Read more...

Today in both the House and Senate bipartisan bills were introduced that will allow states and regions the opportunity to come up with proposals to help cover their uninsured populations. The challenge of the uninsured in our nation is one that affects each and every one of us, not just those without insurance. Our proposal is an exciting opportunity to break the congressional logjam that has occurred in healthcare. Read more...

The quest for health care for all is the issue that brought me into politics and the issue that keeps me here.  It is the number one domestic concern of voters in my district in Wisconsin and, I daresay, throughout the country.

Today, in the House I am reintroducing, along with Reps. Price (R-GA) and Tierney (D-MA), the Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act, a bill that moves us closer to ensuring health care for all.  In the Senate, Senators Bingaman (D-NM) and Voinovich (R-OH) are reintroducing companion legislation, the Health Partnership Act.  Our bills support and encourage the states’ response to insuring everyone.  Just last week Governor Schwarzenegger made a proposal to insure all Californians. We’ve seen bold new initiatives either proposed or put into place in Mr. Tierney’s state of Massachusetts, in Senator Bingaman’s state of New Mexico, in Maine, Illinois, and my home state of Wisconsin.   Our bills allow the federal government to be a helpful partner to states which are already taking the lead and making reforms and to states that want to initiate reforms but need federal assistance to do so. Read more...

With robust growth in medical technology it is beyond my grasp why we would ask the government to be making the decisions about what drugs a senior should have access to rather then promoting consumer choice.  This is simply another attempt by the Democrats to move America towards socialized medicine by asserting control over which drugs are available and at what price.  The current program, which encourages companies to compete for Medicare clients based on price and service, has proved to be far more effective in controlling prices and raising quality than even the most optimistic Republicans and think tanks predicted.

First of all, the purpose of the stem cell bill is to expand the use of embryonic stem cell research and NIH-funded research in the United States. There's a great demand for cures and therapies for serious ailments, particularly Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and diabetes. The public is demanding every opportunity for scientists to find these cures and therapies.

A secondary reason in addition to the human side is the medical economic side. Many of these illnesses cause Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies to pay out billions and billions of dollars.

These are some of the justifications. Read more...

All Americans are struggling with the ever-increasing costs of health care, but seniors have been especially hard hit. I have fought for this change in Medicare since I was first elected, so I’m very happy that we were able to pass this bill today that will help seniors get more affordable health care.

Medicare beneficiaries were done a disservice when the Medicare Prescription Drug bill passed with a provision that prohibited the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices with drug manufacturers. Today we fixed that.

Negotiating for better prescription drug prices is a long overdue step toward making health care more affordable for Medicare beneficiaries. I am proud to have helped pass this bipartisan legislation and I look forward to continuing to work for better and more affordable health care for our seniors.