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Affordable Health Care for All Americans

Congressman Blumenauer believes that the United States health care system is reaching a crisis point and was proud to vote for historic health care reform legislation. This new law will improve access, quality, and affordability of health care for all Americans, while protecting your right to choose your own doctor and health plan.

Learn what your health care options are at HealthCare.gov – this site will be regularly updated as the new health reform takes effect, increasing transparency and putting more tools and resources in consumers hands.

Congressman Blumenauer is proud that Oregon is leading the way to improve the quality, equity and effectiveness of our health care system at the local level through the Oregon Health Authority. It is this kind of local problem-solving, collaborating, and consensus building that will ultimately make the most impact in transforming our “sick-care” system to one that proactively promotes health and wellness.

Oregon is a model for quality care that is also efficient, but under the current system these accomplishments are neither encouraged nor compensated. The health care system must be restructured to reward efficiency and encourage preventative care so we can achieve the best possible health outcomes. Better coordination of services, along with investing our health care dollars more strategically, will lead to cost savings for our taxpayers and far healthier Americans.

He will continue to support these local efforts and champion Oregon initiatives at the federal level.


neuroscience

Health Care Reform

Health Care for our Children

Wellness and Prevention
Congressman Blumenauer speaks at OHSU about the importance of neuroscience

Health Care Reforms

September 23, 2010 represents a new day for American consumers in our health care system. This is the day that a series of new rights, benefits, and protections under theAffordable Care Act:

Insurers Will No Longer Be Able To:

  • Deny coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. Health plans cannot limit or deny benefits or deny coverage for a child younger than age 19 simply because the child has a pre-existing condition like asthma.
  • Put lifetime limits on benefits. Health plans can no longer put a lifetime dollar limit on the benefits of people with costly conditions like cancer
  • Cancel your policy without proving fraud. Health plans can’t retroactively cancel insurance coverage – often at the time you need it most - solely because you or your employer made an honest mistake on your insurance application.
  • Deny claims without a chance for appeal. In new health plans, you now have the right to demand that your health plan reconsider a decision to deny payment for a test or treatment. That also includes an external appeal to an independent reviewer.

Consumers in New Health Plans Will Be Able to:

  • Receive cost-free preventive services. New health plans must give you access to recommended preventive services such as screenings, vaccinations and counseling without any out-of-pocket costs to you.
  • Keep young adults on a parent’s plan until age 26. If your health plan covers children, you can now most likely add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old if they don’t have coverage on the job.
  • Choose a primary care doctor, ob/gyn and pediatrician. New health plans must let you choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician you want from your health plan’s provider network and let you see an OB-GYN doctor without needing a referral from another doctor.
  • Use the nearest emergency room without penalty. New health plans can’t require you to get prior approval before seeking emergency room services from a provider or hospital outside your plan’s network – and they can’t require higher copayments or co-insurance for out-of-network emergency room services.

Learn About the 2010 Health Care Reform Bill

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Health Care for our Children

Congressman Blumenauer is a firm advocate for children’s health insurance. Good health starts by making sure all kids, from an early age, have access to health care.

In 2009 he voted in favor of the reauthorization of the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide healthcare coverage to 11 million American children. It passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 290-135.healthykids

This bipartisan bill will preserve coverage for 63,090 Oregon children currently enrolled in SCHIP and will add an additional 42,700 uninsured children in Oregon. With this reauthorization Oregon would see a 40 percent reduction in the number of uninsured children.

“At a time when Oregon families are struggling with rising costs of healthcare and rising unemployment causing a loss of employee sponsored healthcare, we can provide a signal of hope and a source of relief,” said Rep. Blumenauer. “After three years of working to pass this bill, after three years of fighting for the health and future of America’s children, our new president will finally sign this bill into law today and bring our nation one step closer to providing quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.”

Wellness and Prevention

Congressman Blumenauer recognizes that prevention is essential to keeping people healthy, and policies that support wellness make sense from both a medical and financial standpoint. More than half of America’s adults are overweight, and nearly one-third are obese. In addition to being the second leading cause of unnecessary deaths in the U.S., obesity also carries annual healthcare costs of about $100 billion. Not only are these figures alarming, but they demonstrate that we are witnessing a rapid decline in the overall health of our citizens in epidemic proportions.

Congressman Blumenauer is a longtime advocate of preventive care, which includes providing access to locally grown food that is healthy. He has also worked to offer a variety of transportation options, including incentives to bike to work. Policies regarding natural spaces in residential areas and even guaranteed sick days all have a tremendous impact on our health and well-being.

In 2008 Congress passed, and the President signed, Congressman Blumenauer's Bike Commuter Act, which extends transportation benefits similar to those offered for parking and transit, to those who commute by bicycle. Last Congress he also introduced the Healthy Foods for Healthy Living Act, which increases access to fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy alternatives in low-income communities in an effort to combat obesity.

This Congress, Senator Harkin and Congressman Blumenauer introduced the Healthy Workforce Act to assist businesses in providing a range of opportunities to help their employees lead healthier lives, including incentives to offer onsite health promotion programs. The legislation is targeted primarily at smaller and mid-sized companies, who would otherwise have difficulty making the initial investment needed to support such programs. Keeping workers healthy in the first place can go a long way to reducing the growth in health care costs to employers.

Related Articles

  • November 8, 2010 - Blumenauer Meets with NARFE Members

    Congressman Blumenauer met with representatives of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), including new Oregon president Zane Suverly, to discuss some of the issues concerning their members. The meeting centered around fairness for federal pensions and employees collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits, as well as concern about the lack of cost-of-living (COLA) increases due to Social Security's formula being tied to the Consumer Price Index.


  • November 1, 2010 - Congressman Blumenauer Keynotes Third Annual FolkTime Breakfast

    Congressman Blumenauer provided the keynote speech at the third annual FolkTime breakfast. FolkTime is a program where people with mental illnesses can find community support and resources.


  • October 21, 2010 - Blumenauer Speaks at New Legacy Children's Hospital

    This week, Congressman Blumenauer attended the final construction ceremony for the new Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. Joining Dr. George Brown, Legacy Health President and CEO, as well as Colleen Cane, Legacy Board Chair, on stage for the ceremony, Congressman Blumenauer expressed congradulations to Legacy for the benefis this addition will bring to the state and community. The facility will include a new Children's Emergency Department, 22-bed Children's Day Surgery Unit, Neonatal Intensive Care, and a 24-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.


  • October 15, 2010 - Congressman Blumenauer Meets with the Oregon Medical Association

    Congressman Blumenauer met with the Oregon Medical Association (OMA) for remarks and a Q&A session. The OMA's mission is to serve and support physicians in their efforts to improve the health of Oregonians. Topics of discussion were implementation of the health care reform legislation as well as the fixes to geographic disparities, the fact that Oregon doctors are essentially penalized by Medicare formulas for their high quality, low cost care, included in that bill.


  • September 23, 2010 - Blumenauer Responds to False Claims of a 3.8% Tax on Home Sales

    Recent rumors about a 3.8% home sales tax in the Affordable Care Act are false.


 
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