In The News
Federal grants will renovate aging SEPTA power substation, fix bridges and highways
The Philadelphia area will get $12.8 million in federal funding that was sought to help renovate an aging SEPTA power substation and repair 11 highway and railroad bridges. The grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation were announced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Reps. Allyson Y. Schwartz and Chaka Fattah, all Pennsylvania Democrats.
Poor jobs data fails to spur Congress into compromise
Democratic Representative Allyson Schwartz shot back: "Republicans have chosen to pass bills that are basically campaign rhetoric that they know are going nowhere. That's not getting us where we need to go to help Americans find jobs." The May jobs data released on Friday showed employment growth slowing to a paltry 69,000 jobs - less than half of what economists had forecast. President Barack Obama, trying to contain the damage to his re-election hopes, demanded Congress act on his jobs "to-do list," which includes tax credits for small businesses and federal...
Lame-Duck Nightmare: The Doc Fix Implodes
When members return after the November elections, they will have left themselves an unprecedented amount of work to finish in about 20 legislative days. It’s not that Congress hasn’t been trying to get a head start…Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., even introduced bipartisan legislation with Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., to put Medicare on a path to truly sustainable doctor pay. But despite those efforts, the outlook is bleaker than during the super-committee deliberations, when there was hope for a permanent solution.
Obama hosts Jewish heritage event at White House
President Obama celebrated the values of communities petitioning government at a White House reception honoring Jewish American Heritage Month. A number of Jewish members of Congress were present at the reception, including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Also, Howard Berman (D-Calif.), Shelley Berkley (D-N.V.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Susan Davis (D-Calif.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Sander Levin (D-Mich.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.),...
A National Conversation: Improving Access to Healthy Foods
On Tuesday, May 8, 2012, as many of the country’s leading health experts gathered at the Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, DC to pour over the latest findings and recommendations from the Institute of Medicine for addressing the obesity epidemic, another group of experts assembled nearby at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Total Health to discuss how they were already making progress on obesity prevention. The group—representing community development financial institutions, farmers market promotion programs, community planners, and food project coordinators—shared their insights...
Is Allyson Schwartz on track for U.S. House leadership post?
Check out this interesting piece in National Journal about Democrats who could be in line for the top jobs in the U.S. House of Representatives when Rep. Nancy Pelosi is no longer the leader. Among the names floated in the story (which we saw linked on PoliticsPa) is U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
Providers praise proposed SGR repeal, fee-for-service phase out
A proposed House bill would permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, preventing a 30 percent Medicare pay cut in 2013, and would phase out fee-for-service payments. The Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act of 2012, proposed by Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and Rep. Joe Heck, (R-Nev.), would use savings from the military pull-out from Iraq and Afghanistan to cover all costs, reported Medscape Medical News.
OVERNIGHT HEALTH: House GOP backs new healthcare cuts
On Wednesday, Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and Joe Heck (R-Nev.) introduced legislation to repeal the current SGR and replace it with a new system that would include a small boost in payment rates to doctors for four years and a menu of new payment models. The bill was not discussed during the roundtable, and Baucus said in a gaggle that he was not familiar with it.
New Dems try to redefine 'moderate'
The obituary of moderates in Congress has been written a million times: Middle-of-the-road Republicans are almost extinct; Blue Dogs are losing in droves; the institution is stuck in ideological gridlock. And that all appears true. Enter the New Democrat Coalition, a group of House Democrats trying to redefine what it means to be a moderate in a hyper-polarized environment. It’s someone, based on the group’s profile, who can embrace cap and trade and the health care overhaul and at the same time call for more free trade and corporate tax rate cuts. Now, the so-called New Dems — whose...
House Bill Would Reform Medicare Payment, Eliminate SGR
The AAFP is urging Congress to act quickly on a bipartisan House bill that seeks to revamp the Medicare payment system by eliminating the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and initiating various payment reforms to reward the provision of primary care services, including via a 2.5 percent payment increase for primary care physicians. "This legislation begins the transition to a sustainable payment system and helps our complex system better recognize the value of primary medical care," said AAFP President Glen Stream, M.D., M.B.I., of Spokane, Wash., in a prepared statement....