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As a member of the Subcommittee on Health in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep. Engel is dedicated to helping more Americans receive access to better healthcare. Currently 41.6 million Americans (about sixteen percent of the population) under age 65 do not have health insurance. While sixty-nine percent of Americans have private health insurance coverage, Medicare and Medicaid-the federal and partially state-funded programs-are designed to cover those without the means to buy private insurance. However, they are not entirely successful and that sixteen percent of the population falls through the cracks. Rep. Engel works tirelessly to serve these forgotten Americans as well as improve coverage and care for all.
SCHIP
The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), funded by both the Federal and State governments, provides health insurance to children whose families cannot afford private coverage, yet earn too much money to be eligible for Medicaid. Over nine percent of children are uninsured, most of whom come from low-income families and are most likely to be sick and less likely to receive care for health problems. Rep. Engel is a vocal supporter of SCHIP and the separate stand alone program operated in New York under SCHIP, Child Health Plus (CHPlus), which as of December 2006 had nearly 400,000 children enrolled and receiving comprehensive health care coverage-reducing the number of uninsured children in the State by forty percent. SCHIP as whole currently provides health insurance for six million lower and moderate-income children and must be reauthorized by September 30, 2007; to do so, Rep. Engel is co-sponsoring and speaking about H.R. 1535, the Children's Health First Act, which allows States to expand children's health coverage and provides the tools and resources necessary to identify and enroll the six million children who, though eligible for SCHIP programs, are not enrolled.
Home Infusion Therapy
Though home infusion therapy, in which medication is delivered intravenously to the bloodstream or spinal cord, is the best option for cancer patients who require at-home treatment for side effects such as infection, pain and congestive heart failure, it is not covered by Medicare Part D. Oddly, only the drugs used in the treatment are currently covered by Medicare. Rep. Engel recognizes this destructive error and has introduced H.R. 2567, the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Act of 2007. This bill will provide Medicare with the funding to cover the costs of the home infusion therapy, easing the suffering of patients nationwide.
American Health Security
Since it is unacceptable that a country that spends $1.9 trillion has sixteen million uninsured citizens, Rep. Engel is co-sponsoring H.R. 1200, the American Health Security Act of 2007. This bill sets up a single payer system providing health care coverage to all Americans regardless of ability to pay, requiring each state to prohibit the sale of health insurance that duplicates the benefits under the program and establishing an American Health Security Standards Board and a Quality Council to administer and guide this egalitarian endeavor.
Stop Tuberculosis Now
The recent re-appearance of tuberculosis (TB) in the Far East sparked Rep. Engel to introduce H.R. 1567, the Stop Tuberculosis Now Act of 2007. While a 1961 bill authorized the President of the United States to aide in the prevention, treatment, and elimination of TB around the world, Stop TB Now requires the President to act to eradicate TB. The President must now provide increased resources to the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve the capacity of countries with high TB rates and other affected countries to control, reduce, and eventually destroy the TB threat.
GEDI Act
Rep. Engel recognizes the seriousness of Gestational Diabetes-as well as its relatively low-profile position within the health community. To rectify this, he introduced H.R. 1544, the Gestational Diabetes Act of 2007 (GEDI), which requires the creation of a multisite research project with the goal of expanding and enhancing surveillance data and public health research on gestational diabetes. Rep. Engel's bill will award grants to nonprofit organizations or state health agencies for the best projects designed to reduce the incidence of gestational diabetes and obesity among young women.
ALS Registry Act
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that affects 30,000 Americans. It paralyzes its victims, trapping them in their own bodies, and ultimately kills them. Rep. Engel understands the importance of collecting more research on the disease in the hope of finding a cure, which is why he introduced H.R. 2295-the ALS Registry Act. The bill will catalogue the incidence and prevalence of ALS, as well as an advisory committee of experts that will work to better understand ALS and its sufferers.