Healthcare
Bill believes that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care. Health care must be a right, not a privilege for the few. Unfortunately, in the years before health care reform, one out of three Americans under 65 went without health insurance at some point—putting off medical appointments and going without the screenings and treatments they need. This was of great concern to Bill not only for those whose health may have deteriorated during this time, but also for younger Americans who are not catching costly or deadly diseases early.
As a member of the exclusive Health Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, Bill worked on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as the health care reform bill, to help 32 million uninsured Americans afford health insurance through new state-by-state marketplaces. In New Jersey, health reform means improved consumer protections for 5.3 million New Jersey residents with private insurance coverage so they no longer have to worry about their coverage running out as they face unexpected medical bills, free preventative care for 1.3 million New Jersey Medicare enrollees, and tax credits for 144,000 New Jersey small businesses to help cover the costs of offering health care coverage. In the 8th Congressional District, the bill will prevent 900 families from filing bankruptcy as a result of medical bills and give 47,000 young adults the option of staying on their parents’ insurance as they go to college. As Bill has spoken to groups in Essex and Passaic County, he has emphasized health reform’s ability to create stability in the health care system to give residents across New Jersey an increased peace of mind.
Regarding Bill’s personal involvement with health care reform, in order to address the growing shortage of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, Bill introduced H.R. 1946, the Health Workforce Investment Act of 2009. His bill, which was included as part of health care reform, would ensure a national health work force strategy is developed to respond to growing shortages.
Prior to health care reform, Bill fought to pass the re-authorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). On February 4, 2009, Bill was proud to join President Obama at the White House for the signing of this bill, which provides health care coverage for 11 million children. Also in early 2009, Bill joined his colleagues to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This bill provided essential funds for health information technology to update our antiquated paper-based system, for prevention and wellness programs, and for comparative effectiveness research to evaluate the relative success of different health care services and treatment options.
Looking ahead to national health care costs, Bill believes that we must work together to make our health care system more efficient, by preventing and managing costly chronic conditions as well as paying providers based on the quality, not quantity, of care offered. While health care reform takes the first step to move our system from fee-for-service towards coordinated care models and from focusing simply on illness to promoting wellness, Bill believes that in the end our health is our responsibility.
As Bill continues to work on health issues within the Ways and Means Committee, he is committed to making health care coverage more affordable for all New Jersey residents and keeping the health care system accountable to you.
More on Healthcare
PATERSON, N.J. – Today, U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, and Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, met with hospital representatives at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J. to highlight the impact a Republican repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will have on hospitals in New Jersey, as well as New Jerseyans who are benfiting from the health care law. In December, Pascrell wrote a letter to Gov.
PATERSON, NJ – Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, wrote to Governor Chris Christie to highlight the serious adverse consequences that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its Medicaid expansion will have on New Jersey’s residents and state budget. Rep. Pascrell called on Gov. Christie to relay to House Republican Leadership the disastrous impact these policies will have on New Jersey.
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, announced $1,279,255 in Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant funding through the COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program for New Jersey.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, announced progress in his efforts at improving patient care by monitoring the quality and safety of medical devices with unique device identifiers (UDI).
WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and Dan Kildee (D-MI) led a bipartisan letter to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to update lead action levels to reflect the latest science as they undertake long-term revisions of the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR).
WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) joined more than a hundred lawmakers in a letter calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reexamine the 12-month deferral policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM), and to instead implement a risk-based, scientifically-sound screening policy.
PATERSON – Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) announced a major development in a years-long process over State reimbursement for Medicaid spending totaling $37.32 million. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concurred with a report from the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services that found that a number of New Jersey counties contributed more funds to Medicaid than they should have when implementing a provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) reacted to consideration of the Youth Sports Concussion Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting young athletes from the dangers of sports-related traumatic brain injuries. The bill, H.R. 4460, was heard today by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. The Senate version of the legislation authored by Senator Udall (D-NM) was passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee in April and is awaiting action on the Senate floor.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) and Jim Renacci (OH-16) along with 223 other members – sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) urging CMS to delay the release of the hospital star ratings until they are able to provide more information about the methodology used to determine the scores. Reps. Pascrell and Renacci are both members of the Ways and Means Committee and Budget Committee.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today announced new legislation that would help schools and childcare centers test their drinking water for potential lead contamination. The bill, a companion to a bill being authored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), would establish a new federal grant program for childcare centers and schools that choose to test for lead.