MEMBERSHIP

Allyson Schwartz, co-chair

Jason Altmire, co-chair

Lois Capps, co-chair

John Barrow
Bobby Bright
Russ Carnahan
Gerry Connolly
Joe Courtney
Joe Crowley
Eliot Engel
Charlie Gonzalez
Debbie Halvorson
Jane Harman
Ron Kind
Carolyn McCarthy
Mike McMahon
Dan Maffei
Harry Mitchell
Dennis Moore
Kurt Schrader
Charlie Wilson
Debbie Wasserman Schultz

About the Leaders of the Healthcare Task Force

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (PA-13), serving her third term in the House of Representatives, is a Member of the Ways and Means Committee. During her more than three decades as a health care executive and legislator, Schwartz has developed a national reputation as one of America’s leading health care policy experts and a supporter of reform through public-private partnerships. She is one of the leaders in Congress on health information technology, particularly on e-prescribing, and is well-known for her advocacy of comprehensive insurance coverage, including preventive and cost-effective interventions.

Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04), serving his second term in Congress, is a Member of the Education and Labor Committee. Altmire has an extensive health care background. He earned his Master's Degree in Health Administration from George Washington University and worked for the Federation of American Hospitals from 1996 to 1998. From 1998 to 2005, he worked for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), a 20-hospital system with 50,000 employees and over $7 billion in annual revenue.

Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23), serving her sixth term in the House of Representatives, is a Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Prior to her election to Congress, Capps spent over 20 years as a nurse and health care advocate.

New Democrats' Rx for Health Reform

Innovation

Harnessing technological, scientific, and medical innovation is the only way we will achieve the promise of a 21st century health care system.  Adopting policies that foster innovation and hasten the adoption of new discoveries and best practices will improve the efficiency of our system and better the health of all Americans.  We must:

• Set the framework and offer needed incentives for a national, interoperable health IT system to encourage information sharing across multiple providers and proper training for both providers and the necessary health IT support workforce.
• Embrace comparative effectiveness research for new and existing medical procedures, drugs, and devices.
• Establish a reasonable and timely pathway for "follow-on" biologics that leads to cost savings while maintaining incentives for innovation.

Insurance Market Reform

Over 158 million Americans participate in private, employer-sponsored health insurance.  As we move forward with efforts to expand coverage to our nation's uninsured, New Democrats support building upon the strengths of the private health insurance market by instituting reforms to make private coverage affordable and meaningful. We must:

• Make health care coverage more affordable small businesses through comprehensive health care reform that builds upon a private-public partnership, and reforms the small group and individual markets.
• Expand access to private coverage through the revision of policies such as pre-existing conditions exclusions, waiting periods, and lifetime coverage limits.
• Maintain a robust and competitive private health insurance market and ensure that Americans who have insurance and like it can keep it.

Improving Patient Care

Any health care reform must center on promoting quality and patient-centered care.  Realigning our health care system to better coordinate care, focus on prevention, and purchase value will empower patients, improve health outcomes, and help to contain costs.  We must:

• Ensure a viable health workforce to meet demands of our aging population by improving access to health care education through scholarships and loan repayment programs.
• Allow consumers to hold providers of health care accountable for both cost and quality of care by promoting value-based purchasing and evidence-based benefits.
• Realign our health care system toward primary care, ensuring that patients have access to primary care physicians, patient-centered medical homes, and coordinated care for chronic conditions.