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Category: Health/Medical

House and Senate Announce Health Reform Legislation

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Senate panel announces health reform legislation
Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today released health reform legislation, saying they will continue to discuss key outstanding issues, including a public plan option and coverage requirement for employers, with Republicans on the committee. Committee Chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said the legislation will allow people to keep the coverage they have while providing new, more affordable options; reduce health care costs through stronger prevention, better quality of care and use of information technology; give citizens more information to support prevention; invest in training for doctors, nurses and health professionals and improve care coordination; and enable the elderly and disabled to live at home and function independently. The committee has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday. It plans to begin marking up legislation June 16.

House leaders issue draft health reform proposal
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) today released a four-page outline of draft health reform legislation. The three committee chairmen, who share jurisdiction over health care issues in the House, announced they will continue to seek input from colleagues, stakeholders and the administration as they craft a final bill, and expect to send legislation to the House floor prior to the August recess. Among other provisions, they said their legislative proposal would establish a health insurance exchange “to create a transparent marketplace for individuals and small employers to comparison shop among private insurers and a new public health insurance option”; introduce administrative simplification and standardization to reduce administrative costs across health plans and providers; invest in the health care workforce, prevention and public health programs; offer sliding-scale credits to ensure affordability for low and middle-income Americans; and establish shared responsibility among individuals, employers and government.

VA Medical and Health Centers to Receive ARRA Funding

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President Obama and Vice President Biden today released a plan to create or save more than 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days by accelerating implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Roadmap to Recovery plan includes a Department of Health and Human Services project to enable 1,129 health centers to expand access to primary and preventive care services, and a Department of Veterans Affairs project to improve 90 VA medical centers. Details on specific projects and their funding should be available on each department’s Web site in the next few days, Biden said. According to the administration, the ARRA has created or saved 150,000 jobs since it was enacted in February. “We’ve laid a good foundation in the first 100 days of the Recovery Act and in the next 100 we plan to build on that foundation and accelerate our efforts so we can accomplish even more,” Biden said.

Senator Feingold Introduces Bill to Help Displaced Workers

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Senator Feingold on Helping Displaced Workers Find Health Care Jobs

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation today to help displaced workers in communities hit hard by the tough economy retrain for high-demand health care jobs. Feingold’s Community-Based Health Care Retraining Act specifically targets communities that have suffered job loss in a variety of industry sectors including manufacturing, construction and service sectors.  The legislation would allow communities to apply for grants that would fund retraining efforts led by local workforce development boards.  In April, the unemployment rate in Wisconsin was 8.8 percent according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. 

“In this tough economy, communities throughout Wisconsin have lost manufacturing jobs both at large factories and small manufacturing businesses,” Feingold said.  My bill is designed to give hard-hit communities the opportunity to help retrain their citizens for good, in-demand jobs in the health care field.  This bill will help get people back on their feet and remain in their communities while strengthening our health care industry.” Continue reading “Senator Feingold Introduces Bill to Help Displaced Workers”

Congressman Reichert Recognizes UW School of Medicine on House Floor

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UW SCHOOL OF MEDICINE                                

HON. DAVID G. REICHERT

of washington

in the house of representatives

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Mr. REICHERT. Madam Speaker, today I rise in recognition of the University of Washington School of Medicine and their incredible standing as one of the best medical schools in the world. According to US News & World Report, the University of Washington tops the list of national primary care medical schools for the 16th consecutive year.

The groundbreaking and life-saving work done at the UW School of  Medicine is beyond extraordinary. I feel a sense of pride to know that the best primary care medical school in the nation is located in my home state of Washington.

The School of Medicine was also ranked first in family medicine and  rural medicine for the 18th straight year, fourth in women’s health medicine, sixth in geriatric and pediatric medicine and eighth in internal medicine. Additionally, six active and retired members of the UW community are among 210 new Fellows named to the American Academy of  Arts & Sciences: David Baker, William Gerberding, Andrew Meltzoff, Ed Miles, James Truman and Gunther Uhlmann.

Previously, the University of Washington was ranked the 17th best university in the world by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and 22nd among the top 100 global universities by Newsweek. The University of Washington has proven itself to be a world-class institution and it is truly a privilege to represent a region boasting some of the greatest minds in the world. I congratulate them on the honor for the School of Medicine and look forward to continue working together to make sure we provide the best medical care and training possible.

Senate Finance Committee Releases Options to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Costs

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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have released a set of policy options for transforming the health care delivery system to improve patient care and reduce health care costs.

Among other options, their proposals would:

  • Establish a Medicare value-based purchasing program for hospitals and begin to pay hospitals for their actual performance on quality measures beginning in 2013;
  • Reduce payments to hospitals with high readmission rates for certain conditions;
  • Bundle payments for hospital and post-acute care services within 30 days of hospital discharge;
  • Redistribute unused graduate medical education slots to increase access to primary care; and
  • Ban physician self-referral to a hospital in which the physician has an ownership interest, subject to certain requirements.

Senate Finance Committee Policy Options