Health Care

| Health Care for Children | Health Care for Seniors | Health Care for Low-Income Communities |

IN DEPTH: Press Releases

Our health care system is broken. Nearly 47 million Americans do not have any health insurance, including more than 9 million children. The number of the uninsured has grown steadily each year for the past decade, and—despite an improving economy between 2004 and 2006—it increased by an additional 3.4 million last year. Having health insurance improves overall health and could reduce mortality rates for the uninsured by 10%-25%—more than 18,000 Americans die as a direct consequence of being uninsured.

America is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee health care to all of its citizens. As the wealthiest country in the world, we should be boasting a happy, healthy society; there is no reason for the U.S. to suffer from such deficiencies in our health care system. I am committed to fixing this problem at the federal level through such measures as the United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676. I co-sponsored this legislation to ensure that all citizens have access to quality, affordable health coverage.

Additionally, America should be at the forefront of innovation and medical breakthroughs that will allow us to compete in the global economy. I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which increases the number of lines of stem cells eligible for use in federally-funded research. In addition to limiting stem cell lines to those generated from embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics, this bill also strengthens the ethical framework that must be followed in stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells offer hope that a cure will be found for a wide range of diseases, from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s to Diabetes. Every single one of us could be impacted by the benefits of stem cell research. Unfortunately, President Bush vetoed this bill.

Health Care for Children:

The failure of our health care system is most evident with regards to children. Despite a steady decline in the number of uninsured children in the past decade, the past two years have shown a shocking reversal in children’s health coverage—the number of uninsured children increased by 1 million. In fact, children accounted for 1/3 of the increase in the uninsured last year. I often say that our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see. I am not proud of the message being sent through the failure in our children’s health coverage, which is why I am dedicated to improving access to health care for our children.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a successful, bipartisan program that offers health care to children whose parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. It is supported by 48 state governors and an overwhelming majority of both Democratic and Republican Senators. It is endorsed by numerous health care organizations, and—importantly—it is endorsed by the 6 million children who depend on this program when they are sick and need to see a doctor.

H.R. 976, which recently passed in both the House and the Senate, re-authorized CHIP and extended coverage to an additional 4 million children who are already eligible for the program but not yet enrolled. Unfortunately, President Bush vetoed this measure, and we were thirteen votes shy of the 2/3 majority necessary in the House to override the veto.

Although the President’s reasons for the veto were nothing but misleading rhetoric, the House leadership re-visited the text of the CHIP re-authorization to address the President’s alleged concerns in a new version of the bill, H.R. 3963. They added new provisions to further clarify what the program would do and whom it would and would not cover. If the President truly cared about providing health care to our neediest children, he would sign this new version of the bill. It is very sad that we are spending nearly $10 billion a month overseas in Iraq while neglecting to take care of the children here in our own backyard.

One significant improvement made to CHIP in the re-authorization is the inclusion of guaranteed dental benefits that I authored. For those of us from Maryland, the importance of those benefits has a face and a name: Deamonte Driver. Deamonte was a 12-year-old boy from Prince George’s County who died after a tooth infection spread to his brain. A simple $80 procedure could have saved Deamonte’s life, but he was poor and never made it into the dental chair. There is absolutely no excuse for our system to have failed this little boy, and I made it my personal mission to do everything possible to prevent this from happening again by launching a multi-faceted approach to the issue.

In addition to fighting for dental provisions in the CHIP re-authorization, I introduced Deamonte’s Law, H.R. 2731, which would enhance the dental safety net and workforce by increasing dental services in community health centers and training more individuals in pediatric dentistry.

I have also been working closely with UnitedHealth, the Driver family's insurance provider. I have partnered with it and other organizations to provide free dental screenings and educational materials to local Head Start students and their parents. Additionally, at my suggestion, UnitedHealth established a partnership between AmeriChoice, a United subsidiary, and the University of Maryland Dental School to help increase the pediatric dental workforce. Under this partnership, AmeriChoice will be providing the Dental School with $170,000 annually for several programs and services to ease children's access to dental care. These programs include establishing a mini-pediatric residency clinic and hiring a full-time dental fellow to treat underserved children. I am currently working with UnitedHealth to develop a similar agreement with Howard University, which serves the community where Deamonte Driver lived.

I will not relent in my fight to ensure that Deamonte's death was not in vain. Children are one of our most vulnerable populations, and we have an obligation to protect and provide for them. I will be working tirelessly with my colleagues in the House to continue writing and passing legislation to guarantee that every child has access to quality health care. Our children’s lives depend on it.

Health Care for Seniors:

The best way to judge a society is by the way it treats its children and its elderly. Our senior citizens deserve nothing less than the best when they reach what are supposed to be their “golden years,” and this includes providing them with high-quality medical coverage.

While I firmly believe that Medicare beneficiaries should have prescription drug benefits, I did not agree with the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 passed by the 108th Congress, H.R. 1 (Public Law 108-173), which established Medicare Part D and handed control of prescription drug benefits over to the pharmaceutical and insurance companies. When this prescription drug benefit became effective in January 2006, the effects of serious flaws within the legislation—including penalties to those who did not sign up by a certain deadline—became immediately clear.

The prescription drug “benefit” is costly for beneficiaries and poses a serious threat to the future of our Medicare program. We continue to see our seniors pay high out-of-pocket costs, and many seniors are suffering from the “donut hole,” a gap in coverage forcing them to pay for costly drugs on their own. Millions of our seniors and people with disabilities are still unable to find affordable prescription drugs.

In October, 2007, a report that I requested as a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was released, showing that more than $15 billion in savings is being lost each year due to the deficiencies and corporate handouts in the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. You can read this report by clicking here.

In response to this threat to the Medicare system, the House Democrats promised to pass prescription drug relief within the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress. On January 12, 2007, we passed the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, H.R. 4, a bill that I co-sponsored. This legislation repeals the corporate handouts prohibiting the government from negotiating lower prices for seniors.

Our seniors are one of our most precious resources and we must do everything in our power to protect them. I will continue my efforts to protect our seniors and ensure that they have access to the crucial medical care and prescription drugs that they need.

Health Care for Low-Income Communities:

More than 50 million Americans rely on our Medicaid system to provide them with essential health services. This program does not just provide health coverage to our low-income communities; it also provides funding for important public health services and finances our public hospitals and community health clinics. For these reasons, I could not—on moral grounds—support President Bush’s proposed $13.5 billion cut from Medicaid.

I have consistently fought to fully fund the Medicaid program and ensure that Medicaid recipients are receiving the care guaranteed to them under the law. During the 110th Congress, I fought for increased funding in the Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3043. I have also worked to ensure the appropriate implementation of Medicaid through oversight investigations.

I will continue working for our citizens who most need our help, ensuring that everyone has access to quality health care.