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Dear Friend:
As you know, health care is an issue that touches us all. Whether
it’s preparing for your first baby, going for regular check-ups to
keep your children healthy, helping your parents make prescription
drug and long-term care decisions or just getting your annual
physical, we are all affected by the way our country’s health care
system works.
Today, the system is evolving constantly. Everything – the state of
scientific research, the technology your doctor uses, the type of
health insurance companies offer, the way Medicare and VA health
care work – is changing.
Given the importance of this issue, I’ve been working throughout my
time in Congress to make sure that the government’s policies keep up
with the realities of our health care system. I’d like to take this
opportunity to share with you what I have been doing to address the
issue and what I think we can – and must – do as we move forward.
Supporting Scientific Research
Supporting medical research efforts can help lead to cures for some
of the most devastating diseases we face today. That’s why I have
been – and will continue to be – a vocal advocate of expanding
stem cell research. Stem cells have the potential to be used to
treat and maybe even cure a range of diseases that affect millions
of Americans each year, including Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer,
heart disease, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury
and many others. Any such effort to advance the treatment of
conditions like these deserves our overwhelming support.
I’m also working to ensure medical research and studies being done
at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) are properly funded. I was proud to
support legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives
that would increase NIH funding by 5% a year. Moving forward,
I will continue to work to see that all NIH and CDC research efforts
get the funding they need and deserve.
I’ve also participated in a number of efforts to urge the adequate
funding of military medical research programs. The military’s
research programs are critical in helping to supplement the research
being done at the NIH, CDC and other medical institutions. As part
of my work this year, I joined colleagues in advocating for the
necessary funding of military research involving breast cancer,
kidney cancer, autism and neurofibromatosis (NF), a disorder that
causes nerve and brain tumors.
Advancing Medical Technology
I believe this country is in great need of enhanced health
information technology systems. People with severe health problems
can be under the care of numerous physicians at the same time, and
many people experience medical emergencies while away from home or
when they are unable to see their regular doctor. Circumstances like
these are just some of the many reasons why I support legislation to
modernize the way we keep patient medical records – including
making all records electronically transferable.
I believe it’s equally important that the government take an active
role in educating patients about the technologies available today
that can help prevent, diagnose and treat diseases. In that vein, I
am advocating for a number of bills that would raise public
awareness about and enhance access to these technologies. Increased
awareness of screening technology options alone could save
millions of Americans from fatal diseases such as cancer, heart
disease and stroke.
Furthermore, with the development of new technologies advancing
every day, I believe it’s important that the federal government
continue to support these efforts. That’s why I am a vocal advocate
of working with industry and universities to support partnerships
for research and development incentives that are instrumental in
providing companies with the support they need to continue their
development of new state-of-the-art technologies that help keep
us all safe and healthy.
Making Health Care Coverage Affordable for All
I am extremely sympathetic to the situation faced by many Americans
as the cost of health care continues to skyrocket. Between 2000
and 2005, the average cost of health insurance coverage in
Massachusetts went up by over 75%!
Because of this, more and more people are seeing their employers
reduce or even eliminate their health insurance benefits or are
being forced to drop their self-bought polices. According to the
latest census data, close to forty seven million Americans –
including nearly 8 million children – have no health insurance
coverage. Reevaluating our country’s budgetary priorities and making
the tax code fairer by repealing the Bush Administration’s misguided
tax cuts that target “relief” toward the wealthiest 1% of the
country would do much to address the situation. For example, for
what we spend in Iraq in eleven days, we could provide health care
coverage for every uninsured child in America.
Addressing this issue is of critical importance. For a family
without health insurance, an unexpected medical cost can destroy
savings accounts, empty retirement portfolios and even lead to
bankruptcy. We must find a way to both curb the growth of medical
costs and make insurance coverage available and affordable for
everyone. That’s why I have authored and introduced the States’
Right to Innovate in Health Care Act, which would provide funding to
states for the development of cost-effective, comprehensive health
care models. I continue to press for this legislation, which I hope
will be just the beginning of our efforts to develop an affordable
and accessible health care system that truly works for American
families.
Enhancing Medicare and VA Health Care
As baby boomers and Vietnam-era veterans begin to look toward
retirement, we have to make sure that the Medicare and VA health
care systems are ready to meet their needs. I support a number of
pieces of legislation to expand the benefits that are available
under each program.
On the Medicare front, my Democratic colleagues and I are working to
implement the
New
Direction for America Initiative, which, among other things,
would fix the Medicare Part D prescription drug law so that Medicare
will be allowed to use its bargaining power to negotiate lower drug
prices for its beneficiaries. As it stands right now, the law
expressly prohibits Medicare from negotiating for lower prices, and
I think that this is unfair to America’s seniors. As you may know,
the VA uses its bargaining powers to negotiate lower drug costs for
our nation’s veterans, and a recent Families USA study found that
Medicare drug plans actually pay approximately 46% more for
prescription drugs than the VA does! The initiative would also
eliminate the program’s “doughnut hole,” which forces seniors to pay
thousands of dollars out-of-pocket each year for their
prescriptions.
Additionally, our veterans deserve quality, affordable and easily
accessible health care. When I first came to Congress, I worked with
veterans groups and local officials to open VA Community Based
Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Lynn, Gloucester and Haverhill. With
these three CBOCs in combination with the Bedford VA Hospital, no
veteran in the area has to travel more than 15 miles for care. Over
the past few years, I also joined with patients' families, veterans,
hospital employees and supporters and local officials to
successfully fight against the Bush Administration's proposal to
eliminate all inpatient services at the Bedford VA Hospital. This
fight continues. With thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan, I believe that this proposal – or, for that matter, any
proposal to cut back on VA medical services in the area – would have
far too great an impact on local veterans. I will continue to work
to ensure that our veterans have affordable access to all needed
care. I also remain committed to fighting for increased funding of
the VA health care system so that we can provide veterans nationwide
with the highest quality of care.
I hope this sampling of what I’ve been doing to advance our nation’s
health care policies has been of interest to you. I continue to
actively work on these and other issues and to move our country’s
health care system forward into the 21st century. Better health
care is a key part of supporting and protecting America’s families,
and it remains one of my highest priorities. For more information on
this and other issues of importance to you, please
visit my website.
Sincerely,
John F. Tierney
Member
of Congress
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