U.S. Congressman Fred Upton

Health Care

I am a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, with jurisdiction over a broad range of health care issues.  I am also co-chair of the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus and a member of the Rare and Neglected Disease Caucus.  I sought my position on the Energy and Commerce Committee because of my commitment to health care and my long-standing support for biomedical research.

Repealing the Patient Protect and Affordable Care Act
While there is a real need for improvement and cost savings in our current health care system, I am opposed to any sort of plan that would add billions of dollars to the deficit, raise taxes, and cost jobs.  I voted against Speaker Pelosi’s trillion dollar health overhaul, which was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010.  I was one of the first Members of Congress to sign a pledge vowing to support legislation that would (1) repeal any government takeover of health care passed in 2010 and (2) support repeal, commonsense reforms focused on lowering costs and increasing accessibility.  In addition, I have cosponsored legislation introduced by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (H.R. 4903) that would repeal the health bill in its entirety.

Expanding Health Care for Michigan’s Children
I have been a proud, longtime proponent of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). It has been an extremely successful program in Michigan (MIChild) and across the nation. I was at the table in 1997 when Congress initially developed and enacted SCHIP in a bipartisan partnership between a Republican-controlled Congress and the Clinton administration.

I was a strong supporter of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (H.R. 2) which the President signed into law in February 2009. The new law expands health care to an additional 80,000 needy kids in Michigan by reauthorizing the SCHIP program through 2013 to provide a total of 11 million low-income children, including four million kids who are currently eligible but not enrolled, with access to affordable health insurance coverage. Michigan Republican Reps. Vern Ehlers, Candice Miller and Thaddeus McCotter joined me in supporting the expansion of children’s health care.

The new law allows Michigan to continue striving to ensure that every child has health insurance. At a time when many people have lost their jobs and their healthcare coverage, this legislation is critical to making sure that all children have access to quality health care.

Expanding Arthritis Research
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. I joined Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA ) in coauthoring bipartisan legislation to help the nearly one in five adults and 300,000 children in America who suffer from arthritis.  The Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act, H.R. 1210, will make landmark investments in research and support services for those suffering from the disease.

This important legislation takes the offensive in our effort to provide relief to the 46 million children and adults who suffer from arthritis each day. We are long overdue in finding a cure for arthritis, and this measure will boost the scientific research needed to conquer this disease.

The bill enhances the National Arthritis Action Plan by supporting federal, state, and private arthritis prevention and management efforts.  It also focuses attention on juvenile arthritis research by creating a juvenile arthritis population-based database and establishes education loan repayment and career development award programs to encourage more health professionals to enter the field of pediatric rheumatology.

With more than 300,000 children suffering from pediatric arthritis in the United States, there are approximately only 200 pediatric rheumatologists in the country to treat them.  There are nine states without even one doctor to diagnose and treat these children. This measure will help ensure that there are doctors available throughout the country to provide care for those adults and children suffering from arthritis.

The legislation is supported by the Arthritis Foundation, the American College of Rheumatology, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Silver Alerts Help Save Lives
In February, the House considered the Nationwide Silver Alert Act of 2009, H.R. 632, to establish a national communications network to assist efforts to locate missing senior citizens. The Silver Alerts are modeled after the nationwide AMBER Alert system, which has proven effective in keeping our children safe from the dangers of abduction. The AMBER Alert has rapidly become an invaluable tool for law enforcement officials in their efforts to quickly locate missing children and return them safely to their loved ones.

In the case of missing persons, whether children or adults, time is of the essence - the first few hours after an individual goes missing are the most critical. To coincide with the success of the AMBER Alert program, I strongly support Silver Alerts to ensure the safe recovery of missing seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related illnesses.

Fortunately, many states, including Michigan, have already established their own rapid notification Silver Alert systems (often in conjunction with the AMBER Alert), which have proven quite successful in locating lost or missing seniors. The legislation considered yesterday establishes a national coordinator to oversee the network as well as work with States to develop local Silver Alerts in consultation with state and local law enforcement officials.

Missing person cases are often matters of life and death. The expansion of the Silver Alert network will increase public awareness when a loved one goes missing and help ensure their safe return.