Healthcare

As the drug and insurance industries rake in tens of billions of dollars in profits, Ohio seniors and people with disabilities are being forced to pay full price for their prescription drugs as they hit gaps in coverage. This Medicare drug plan has provided windfall profits to the drug companies at the expense of Ohio seniors.

While seniors and people with disabilities continue to express frustration with the Part D disaster, Senator Mike DeWine continues to tout his vote in favor of the drug plans. The legislation included a $100 billion subsidy for the pharmaceutical industry, and has allowed the industry to earn tens of billions more off of the backs of the poorest seniors and taxpayers.

After taking $300,000 in campaign contributions from the drug industry over the course of his career, Senator DeWine voted to prohibit Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. Mike DeWine can try to distort his record, but the truth is that the price of prescription drugs has gone up under Medicare Part D. Part D has provided a boon to the drug and insurance industry but has saddled Ohio seniors with higher costs and gaps in coverage. Read more...

It is completely irresponsible, it is reckless. This place is increasingly detached from reality. My Republican friends that used to be fiscally responsible have now turned their history on its head.

Every day they increase spending. They just added billions of dollars to this defense bill, and then they cut the revenue, cut the revenue, cut the revenue. They just keep digging the hole deeper and deeper and stacking up more and more debt.

Where this ends, we all know: Higher interest rates and America in a weakened financial position.
If this isn’t reigned in, the next thing they are going to do is to propose shredding Social Security and Medicare. It is very clear that’s where this is all headed because it is the only way to balance the books after everything they have done.

Why do we have a prescription requirement for oral contraceptives? Because there is a risk associated with oral contraceptives. There is significant risk of sudden death, in terms of increased risk for people that have advanced cardiovascular disease or that have blood vessel disease. Before we give anybody oral contraceptives, we do a thorough history to make sure they don't have any risk factors. We also make sure they understand how to use them.

Plan B is nothing but a very high dose of the same medicine, taken over a short period of time. Why would we give somebody the same medicine and not know what the risk factors are? You're also going to have people taking it more than one time a month, which means they are getting more than a normal month worth of oral contraceptives. I think that is bad medicine.

A lot of times, when people are going to be taking that, they really need to be seeing a physician for the sexually transmitted diseases that may have occurred, and for the social and psychological counseling that may be necessary as the result of the unplanned or unwanted event. Finally, what about a 20-year-old guy buying it for a 14-year-old girl? There is no control over that with Plan B.

The Republican vision for the future is a safer, healthier and more prosperous America.

The Republican-led Congress is making real headway in securing America's homeland, securing America's prosperity and securing America's values.

In the Senate this year, we've passed legislation to prevent a $70 billion tax increase on the American people and continue record economic growth, improve health care quality through electronic medical records, secure our homeland by strengthening our borders, expand the energy supply through new exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and fund the War on Terror.

As the legislative session winds down, much is left to be done. This week presents another opportunity for senators to join together in addressing the pressing needs of the American people. We must pass a strong, fiscally responsible Defense appropriations bill that funds our military and supports our troops serving overseas. We must past legislation reforming our nation's pension system and providing retirement security for millions of Americans. And we must pass legislation that includes a permanent solution for the Death Tax, an extension of valuable tax incentives, and an increase in the federal minimum wage. Combining these measures offers a timely and effective way to address issues important to both sides of the aisle.

I ask my colleagues to put politics aside and pass these three bills making our country safer and improving the lives of millions of Americans.

As a nurse, I know first hand the need for substantial improvement in the use of Health Information Technology (HIT) in America's Health Care facilities, and I want to see the expanded use of health information technology, such as electronic medical records.  I know that expanded use of HIT holds great promise for facilitating better care, reducing medical errors, and eliminating burdensome paperwork.



Unfortunately, the bill the House will consider today has a glaring omission - it has no privacy protection for patients.  That means your personal, sensitive health information is vulnerable to theft or abuse. That also means there is no recourse you could take to hold individuals accountable for improperly obtaining or disclosing your most personal information.


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Earlier this year, the VA was entertaining a proposal to curtail the hours of operation at VA Medical Center emergency rooms across the country, including one right in my home state of New Hampshire.  This proposal would have hurt veterans.  When faced with a dire medical emergency, the last thing a veteran and his or her family should be considering is the potential out-of-pocket costs incurred from visiting a private medical facility.

Thankfully, the VA has shelved this proposal until they have determined a policy that will allow qualified veterans to be treated at other facilities with the VA assuming responsibility for payment of that care.  To prevent any future proposals similar to this one from being implemented without Congressional or public input, I have introduced legislation in the House that would give Congress ample opportunity for oversight on any proposal that would curtail hours of operation at emergency rooms within the VA Health Care System.  I urge my colleagues to support this bill and ensure that our veterans receive the health care they deserve.

While there are many health care reform bills on the table, it's clear to me, and has been for some time, that no single approach has enough support to get enough votes for passage.  The contentiousness in this Congress has also been an impediment to progress.  In the meantime, patients and their families across the country are paying a high price, both financially and emotionally.

The federal government should be helping the states as they try new approaches, not hindering them.  But, this bill does not throw a bunch of money at the problem of the uninsured.  We're looking for systematic change and encouraging innovation.

My colleagues joined with me in a bipartisan working group, advised by health care policy experts from liberal and conservative think tanks and our able staff members.  This collaboration, in these partisan times is rare, gratifying, and another sign of meaningful progress.

We are on the brink of cures for diseases that affect hundreds of millions around the world. Opponents of stem cell research often point to adult stem cells as a suitable alternative. However, legitimate scientists disagree. Dr. Harold Varmus, the former head of our National Institutes of Health, said, 'Compared to adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells have a much greater potential, according to all existing scientific literature.'

On Wednesday, the President exercised the first veto of his presidency on this law. President Bush has signed bills to give subsidies to Big Oil, to give tax cuts to the wealthiest few, and subsidies to HMOs, but he could not find it in his heart to give hope to America's families, proudly boasting that he was protecting America from crossing a 'moral line.' I am tempted to point out the obvious - the President's veto had nothing to do with morals. It had everything to do with cold, calculated, cynical political gain - the kind of politics that snuffs out the candle of hope, and that condemns the disabled and the sick.

The President's veto is a sad sidebar in a debate that has been about ethical scientific research and hope. The veto has backfired already, putting the spotlight on his stubborn resistance to facts. This last-gasp effort to stop stem cell research will be viewed by historians as a sign more of the weakness of the opponents than a roadblock to progress.

We cannot stand back and ignore a valuable research tool that might work medical miracles. We won't turn our backs on those in need. We will pass this bill.  This fight is just beginning.

Personally, I'm still encouraged that we're going to continue pushing. My legislation isn't the goal - if we can get embryonic stem cells from another sources, I'm all for it - I just doubt we can.

I don't intend to play games. I intend to follow the science and to follow the issue, so that next year I can put it into a bill that'll be an improved model, knowing that the President still probably won't sign it.

But I'm not going to attach this to every appropriations bill.

By: Tom Bock, National Commander of the American Legion

We were trained in the military to "safeguard" classified materials.  VA has an obligation to "safeguard" personal information.  We know the consequences for losing classified material in the military, I would expect no less in the VA.

Therefore, The American Legion calls upon the Administration and Congress to provide the promised protection to allow concerned veterans and members of the military a sense of well being and peace of mind they so rightly deserve.

The American Legion will continue to press the VA and congress to work to ensure that any veteran, active duty, Guard or Reserve member who suffers financial loss as a result of the initial theft is justly compensated.  The American Legion also supports legislation that will provide free monitoring of credit for one year and other actions to protect veterans.

The Veterans Identity and Credit Security Act of 2006 seems like a logical first step toward re establishing confidence and trust.