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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Yesterday, Jeff was very happy when the House of Representatives approved for the Claims Settlement Act of 2010, a measure he helped write to resolve two long-standing water disputes in the New Mexico.  Obviously, since ours is such an arid state, water is an extremely valuable resource, one that every community values and protects.

This bill settles the claims of Taos Pueblo (Abeyta) and the claims of the Pueblos of Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, and Tesuque (Aamodt).  It also includes the funding to implement not only these claims but those of a third claim already approved by Congress, the Navajo-Gallup pipeline.  Settling these claims brings water certainty to thousands of New Mexicans – goals that were decades in the making.

The measure now goes to the president to sign.  You can read President Obama's statement online.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Today Jeff participated in a Senate Finance Committee hearing on modernizing and strengthening Medicare and Medicaid.  Dr. Donald Berwick, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, responded to statements and questions from senators on the committee, some in relation to the health insurance reform law passed in March.

Jeff spoke with Dr. Berwick about provisions Jeff wrote that were included in the health insurance reform law, both about health care quality.

First he addressed hospital-acquired infections, which can be serious and even deadly; as of now, information on their prevalence is not widely available.  Jeff believes this data is valuable to patients when choosing where to be treated.  In addition, we should change Medicare payments to incentivize hospitals with very high levels of infection to improve the care they provide.

Jeff also asked Dr. Berwick on the status of measuring hospital outcomes.  This provision requires hospitals to report data on how well they are performing by making important information–such as survivability rates–publicly available.  This allows patients to learn how individuals with the same or similar condition fared at hospitals, so that they can make more informed choices about where to seek treatment.

Both measures are intended to give New Mexicans–and all Americans–clear information about the quality of hospitals–which Jeff believes is an important step in improving the American health care system.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill today for the first day of the so-called "lame duck" session.  The "lame duck" period is when Congress returns to Washington to legislate after an election but before the next Congress has been sworn in.

There is much to do in these next several weeks, and Jeff is hopeful that the Senate will address some crucial issues and tie up other loose ends.  Among the most pressing issues Jeff hopes Congress will pass is a measure to reform and strengthen safety requirements for offshore drilling.  Jeff shepherded this legislation through the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee earlier this year, and believes it is a strong first step toward implementing reforms that are necessary to prevent disasters like the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 13 people, spilled massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and halted drilling elsewhere.

Other important measures the Senate is likely to address is legislation to fund the federal government operations, including funding for schools, healthcare and the national laboratories.

Jeff is also eager to debate and help pass the food safety bill, which has been ready for full Senate consideration for nearly a year.  The bill aims to prevent foodborne bacteria from reaching consumers, partly by granting the Department of Health and Human Services more authority to recall tainted foods.

The next few weeks promise to be busy ones, and you can keep up with developments here.

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