Throughout his career as a public servant Congressman Serrano has advocated for a healthcare system that provides coverage to all U.S. residents. He has often argued that in the greatest, most powerful nation on earth it is unconscionable to allow those in need to go without coverage. Accordingly, his legislative record in the House of Representatives reflects his strong desire to provide services for our most vulnerable communities.
As a supporter of healthcare for all, Congressman Serrano was a co-sponsor of H.R. 676, which would set up a universal, single-payer health care system in the United States. Though this bill did not become law, Congressman Serrano fought for its provisions to be in the comprehensive health care reform bill that did pass Congress. Serrano is now working to ensure that its provisions are carried out correctly by the federal government and health care providers, so that Americans are extended affordable coverage as the legislation intended.
In 2007 Congressman Serrano introduced two important pieces of legislation aimed at prevention. The first, entitled the Glaucoma Screening Act of 2007, calls for the creation of a grant program for eligible organizations to provide free glaucoma screenings to populations at risk of developing the disease. The second, entitled the Medicaid Newborn Coverage Act of 2007, called for the Secretary of Health to waive a proof of citizenship requirement during the first year of life for children born in the United States to a Medicaid-eligible mother. The latter, drafted in response to an anti immigrant rule, was incorporated into a larger bill that eventually became law.
Congressman Serrano has also co-sponsored numerous measures to improve and expand healthcare coverage for our most vulnerable populations. This long list includes measures that call for increased funding for breast cancer research, expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, expansion of the Medicaid program, expansion of coverage for mental health services, and increased funding for NIH research of diseases such as diabetes, glaucoma, and asthma.
However, curtailing the spread of HIV and providing care for those infected remains one of Congressman Serrano’s top priorities in the realm of healthcare. With so many of his constituents suffering from this debilitating disease, Congressman Serrano has made a tremendous effort to improve U.S. domestic AIDS policy. In addition to directing federal dollars to Bronx Health Centers that care for AIDS patients, he has consistently fought to increase funding for the Ryan White Care Act; its programs are the largest provider of services for victims of HIV/AIDS in the United States.
Congressman Serrano has also used his role as the powerful Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee Chair to expand programs that curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS. In Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009 he removed provisions from his bill, which in the past, had prevented the District of Colombia from using local revenue to fund syringe exchange programs.
Realizing the effectiveness of these programs in the fight against this epidemic, Congressman Serrano decided to go a step a further. In 2008 he introduced the Community AIDS Prevention Act, which would remove the ban on use of federal funds for syringe exchange programs. With the momentum garnered through his bill, the ban on the use of federal funds was lifted in FY2010 in the Appropriations process. Congressman Serrano is now moving to ensure that there is funding for these efforts contained in the federal budget. Syringe exchange saves lives, and is proven not to increase illicit drug use.
As the nation moves forward Congressman Serrano will continue to push for universal healthcare and advocate on behalf of our most vulnerable populations.
|