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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) was chosen by his Democratic colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee today to chair the committee's powerful Subcommittee on Health at an organizing meeting on Capitol Hill.
The New Jersey congressman said the chairmanship provides him a powerful position in which to fight for New Jersey's needs on critical pieces of legislation that are expected to be taken up by Congress this year.
The subcommittee has sole jurisdiction over Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and shares jurisdiction of Medicare with the Ways and Means Committee. The subcommittee oversees public health, biomedical programs, food and drug safety, mental health and research, hospital construction and all health care homeland security-related concerns.
"My top priority as chairman this year is to strengthen the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), known in New Jersey as FamilyCare," Pallone said. "While New Jersey is so successful at providing coverage to both low-income parents and their children, this success means New Jersey needs more money from the federal government to meet its needs.
"I see no reason why we as a nation should not strive to ensure every child has access to health insurance, and I will fight for more federal funding so New Jersey can continue to expand its FamilyCare program," Pallone continued.
Currently, New Jersey's FamilyCare program covers over 125,000 children. Unlike some states which only extend coverage to children, New Jersey's FamilyCare program provides coverage to over 70,000 uninsured low-income parents and guardians of children who are 18 or younger. Pallone said that of the 264,000 New Jersey children who are uninsured, 83-percent of them are eligible for the FamilyCare program but are not currently enrolled.
Pallone also said he wants to help New Jersey doctors and hospitals who receive low reimbursements from federal programs. Under the Medicare program, New Jersey is estimated to face a $5 billion reduction in physician reimbursements between 2007 and 2014 unless Congress intervenes to prevent the cuts from taking place.
"We need to begin an open and honest discussion that will provide permanent relief to New Jersey's doctors and provide them with adequate and fair payments," Pallone said. "As chairman, I hope to find a permanent reimbursement solution so that Congress no longer has to produce temporary annual fixes that lead to uncertainty with medical professionals who are saving lives every day."
Pallone thanked his committee colleagues for giving him the opportunity to chair this important subcommittee. He said he looks forward to developing an agenda that will improve our nation's health care system for all Americans.
"This new Congress must address the inadequacies that currently exist in our broken health care system," Pallone continued. "In a country as wealthy as ours, it is simply unacceptable for over 46 million Americans to be uninsured. We must explore ways to end the troubling trend of skyrocketing health care costs that make it increasingly difficult for individual consumers and employers to afford insurance."
Pallone said another top priority as chairman will be to focus on issues concerning the health and well being of our nation's seniors. The New Jersey congressman said the subcommittee will provide aggressive oversight of the Medicare program and explore ways to make it work better for America's seniors.
"I also plan to hold hearings to explore ways that we can better help New Jersey seniors with their long term care needs, while, at the same time, preparing for the large number of baby boomers who will soon need long term care assistance," Pallone continued.
Pallone said the subcommittee will also reform food and drug safety laws, do more to safeguard against public health emergencies such as bioterrorism and avian influenza and work to expand NIH medical research. |
