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Category: Health/Medical

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

Conflict of Interest Rules Proposed for Medical Research

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A recent report from the Institute of Medicine recommends that researchers and medical faculty members decline all gifts from medical companies and refuse to publish or present material that is ghostwritten for such companies in order to avoid real or perceive conflicts of interest.   The recommendations also suggest broader reporting requirements of researchers’ ties to companies, but does not go so far as to recommend barring all such ties.  Instead, the report suggests that researchers should disclose ties not only to their employers but to other medical organizations. 

Read more about the Institute for Medicine report.

Senate Confirms HHS Chief

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Today, the United States Senate confirmed Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services on a 65-31 vote. The confirmation comes at a critical moment, as the Obama administration deals with swine flu emergency that has surfaced in the past week. The confirmation completes President Obama’s cabinet and adds a voice to the administration that will be critical in dealing with an anticipated reform of the nation’s health insurance system. 

TheSenate Finance Committee, chaired by Max Baucus (D-MT), could begin to hold mark-ups of health insurance reform legislation as early as June of this year, with full consideration by the Senate this fall. The inclusion of budget reconciliation language, on health insurance reform and student loan reform, in the FY10 budget resolution that is emerging from Congress could mean that health insurance reform would need only a simple majority to pass, and would not be threatened by a filibuster led by the minority party. However, the White House and Congressional leaders have expressed a desire to pass health insurance reform in a bi-partisan fashion.