Issue Position: Health & Social Policy

Issue Position

Issue Position: Health & Social Policy

Americans today are faced with increasing Senator Lieberman - Health Care uncertainty when it comes to their health, be it from the rising medical costs, with the health challenges that often accompany old age, the fiscal challenges facing our Medicare and Medicaid programs, or the threats of natural and man-made diseases. Senator Lieberman continues to work on behalf of Connecticut to address these vital issues facing America. He is fighting for affordable health care for all, especially for America's most vulnerable - the poor, elderly, children and their families. He continues to support biomedical research so that new treatments for debilitating diseases can be discovered, and he is working to improve the quality of care all Americans receive.

He will be re-introducing his CURES legislation to accelerate the pace of biomedical research so that we can find the research and development of therapies that can more effectively treat and even solve scourges such as cancer, Parkinson's, heart failure and diabetes. He introduced legislation, Faircare, to make sure all Americans, receive the same quality of medical care. Project Bioshield II, introduced in 2005 to combat bioterrorism, would have supported the development of new countermeasures to protect the American public from today's most dangerous diseases - natural or man-made. This bill significantly influenced the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which was signed into law in December of 2006. He has been working for the last year to improve the mental health services our service members fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan receive and has become a leading voice in the Senate for this cause. Also, the Senator has cosponsored legislation that provides more affordable health care to small businesses, more money to stem cell research, and more coordinated efforts to combat autism.

Health Care Quality

Curing Diseases.
The United States has the most advanced medical research system in the world. We invest $28 billion of Federal funding into the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance biomedical research. However, scientists are struggling to bring novel diagnostics, therapies, and cures to our health care system at a pace fast enough to stem both old and new threats. Many Americans continue to suffer from chronic diseases, such as diabetes, stroke, and cancer. Infectious diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, continue to spread, killing millions each year worldwide. In addition, we face emerging man-made and natural health threats, such as another anthrax attack or a potential avian flu pandemic, that could easily overwhelm the nation's current health care infrastructure.

To meet these pressing health problems, Senator Lieberman believes in making diagnostics and treatments to the world's most important diseases a top national priority. His American Center for Cures Act of 2005 aimed to establish a new organization and structure at NIH to focus on translational research activities and to build new private and public partnerships to transfer discoveries from basic research to medical treatments. The legislation would encourage the scientific community and the private sector to work together to support the most promising lines of research to bring forth breakthrough advances. It would lead groundbreaking research across disciplines to leverage advances in biology, as well as in the physical sciences, computer sciences, and engineering. It would support Connecticut's growing biotechnology industry by supporting small biotechnology companies in pursuing promising leads and would address the challenges they face in drug development, testing, and procurement. Lastly, the legislation would have improved the clinical research process and promote information sharing by using the NIH's electronic infrastructure as an innovation repository and clearinghouse.

Health Care Quality and Equality.
In this new era of genomics and personalized medicine, the Senator has demonstrated his support for protecting patient rights and encouraging genetic research by co-sponsoring Senator Snowe's Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2007, which would prohibit discrimination by health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets on the basis of genetic information or testing.

In 2005 Senator Lieberman, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced the FairCare Act, which addresses two serious problems plaguing our nation's health care system: inconsistent health care quality and health care disparities. Currently, Americans get the right kind of care from their health care providers only 45% of the time, which results in up to 99,000 preventable deaths and $30 billion dollars in costs. For minorities, the situation is worse. In the United States today, there is a well-documented pattern of health care disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. Studies have shown that these groups are less likely to receive regular medical care or preventive screenings and education. Many of these disparities persist, even when factors like income and access to health care are taken into account. FairCare would help alleviate our country's medical quality problems by establishing standards for quality care and the electronic data collection necessary to assure adherence to this care. It focuses on the specific problem of minority health care disparities and works to involve communities in the designing of solutions. Senator Lieberman worked hard to incorporate key elements of FairCare into the FY 2006 Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill.

Tropical and Neglected Diseases.
Less than 1% of the roughly 1,400 drugs registered between 1975 and 1999 treated tropical and neglected diseases even though roughly 1 billion people worldwide are affected by at least one of these diseases. Senator Lieberman co-sponsored an amendment to the FDA Revitalization Act that would increase access to new treatments for neglected tropical diseases by creating financial incentives for pharmaceutical companies to produce treatments for such diseases.

Mental Health

In April of 2007, Senator Lieberman introduced the Mental Health Care for Our Wounded Warriors Act (S.1196) to create Centers of Excellence within the Department of Defense to specialize in the treatment of PTSD and other mental health problems, and ensure that those combat veterans who need mental health care get it. The legislation was incorporated into the Dignified Care for Our Wounded Warriors legislation that passed unanimously out of the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 14, 2007. On July 30, 2007, Senator Lieberman co-authored an Op-Ed with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on the importance of providing quality mental health care for our troops.

Senator Lieberman has consistently supported mental health parity legislation, including the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA), enacted into law in 1996 with Senator Lieberman's support, which established new federal standards for mental health coverage offered by group health plans, most of which are employment based. Identical provisions were later added to the Internal Revenue Code by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. MHPA required group health plans that choose to provide mental health benefits to adopt the same annual and lifetime dollar limits on their coverage of mental and physical illnesses.

Public Health

Public Health Preparedness.
In addition, Senator Lieberman, previously as Ranking Democrat and now as Chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, has convened hearings to investigate our local, state, and federal public health and medical responses to disasters. Hurricane Katrina illustrated a lack of preparedness in regard to responding to medical needs of those affected by disasters on a mass scale. Senator Lieberman investigated these issues to ensure that the medical and public health response problems that occurred during and after Hurricane Katrina do not repeat themselves.

In December 2005, Senator Lieberman expressed concerns to Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt that the federal government is not adequately prepared for a public health disaster, and asked Leavitt for specific information about the federal government's plans to handle such a disaster. Since this time, Senator Lieberman has focused on the slow progress of recovery in Louisiana and the surrounding areas.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 Senator Lieberman has worked on a number of fronts to ensure that our public health systems are adequately prepared to protect the public from chemical and biological attacks or other public health threats. He and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Project BioShield II Act, legislation designed to stimulate the development of breakthrough bioterror antidotes by reducing the financial risk to biotech and drug companies while also ensuring quality control.

Americans with Disabilities act. Senator Lieberman has always supported, and will continue to support, efforts to end discrimination against those with disabilities and ensure they have the same opportunities as all Americans. The Americans with Disabilities Act Restoration Act (S. 1881), legislation introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), which would clarify the original intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA; P.L. 101-336) and ensure that every American with a disability is protected from discrimination. Similar legislation (H.R. 3195) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

Senator Harkin introduced this bill on the 17th anniversary of the passage of ADA, one of the most important landmark civil rights laws of the 20th century. ADA provides broad nondiscrimination protection in employment, public services, public accommodations, services operated by public entities, transportation, and telecommunications for individuals with disabilities. This law, which was passed by Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed by President George H.W. Bush, was specifically designed to protect any individual who is treated less favorably because of a current, past, or perceived disability.

Unfortunately, as Senator Harkin noted, since the passage of ADA, a series of court decisions have ignored Congress' clear intent regarding who should be protected under the law and have narrowed the category of who qualifies as an "individual with a disability." For instance, some individuals that Congress intended to protect under ADA - including people with epilepsy, diabetes, and cancer - are no longer protected as a result of such court decisions. The U.S. Supreme Court, alone, has decided 20 ADA cases, including one in the 2005-2006 Supreme Court term.

These cases have sometimes created situations where people with serious conditions such as epilepsy or diabetes could potentially be forced to choose between treating their conditions and forfeiting their ADA protections or not treating their conditions and being protected. S. 1881 would restore the original intent of ADA to protect all persons with disabilities without regard to mitigating circumstances, such as taking medication or using an assistive device. Senator Lieberman will continue to support legislation to ensure that Americans with disabilities are protected from discrimination as this and any other similar bills move through the legislative process.

At-Risk Individuals

Senator Lieberman appreciates that the disabled, elderly, and children are at an increased risk in public health emergencies. In 2006, Senator Lieberman and Cochran's amendment concerning public health emergency preparedness and at-risk individuals, including people with disabilities, the elderly, and children was incorporated into the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. This section of the law requires the establishment of a Director of At-Risk individuals, who is required to assist federal agencies responsible with planning for, and responding to, public health emergencies in addressing the needs of at-risk individuals, provide guidance to state and local public health grant recipients as to how to incorporate the needs of at-risk individuals in emergency preparedness and response strategies, and develop and disseminate best practices regarding outreach to, and care of, at-risk individuals in public health emergencies.

Avian Flu.
Avian flu is a growing threat as the virus moves through animal populations, with human infections, in Southeast Asia, Europe and now the Middle East. As of June 2007, there have been 198 deaths out of 310 laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza reported to the World Health Organization. Legislators have been increasingly concerned about the need for an avian flu vaccine and access to anti-virals. Until now, much less emphasis has been placed on the surveillance and systematic examination of data on wild migratory birds even though these birds are one vector for the spread of avian influenza globally.

Senator Lieberman has recognized this gap in avian influenza pandemic preparedness and in October 2005, introduced The Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance Act. The proposed legislation would increase the efficiency in detecting, verifying, and reporting on the presence of highly infectious strains of avian influenza by setting up a real time global electronic data sharing infrastructure. Information from the surveillance network would be used to obtain the latest viral strains for vaccine production and prepare human and animal communities in the wild migratory bird flight path.

In December of 2005, Senator Lieberman worked with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) to ensure that a wild migratory bird surveillance network was included in the flu supplemental to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006. The final version of that bill contains $150 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct global and domestic disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, rapid response, and quarantine. The bill specifically cites the importance of animal surveillance in mitigating harm and the fact that wild bird surveillance is a key part of the global surveillance endeavor.

If you have questions on what avian flu is, how it spreads in birds and other animals, and what precautions you can take, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, which has a comprehensive summary of a wide range of avian flu issues.

Wildlife Surveillance.
More than 60% of the approximately 1,400 currently known infectious diseases are shared between wildlife and humans. Over the past 30 years we have had many emerging infectious disease outbreaks originating from wildlife, including hantavirus, plague, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, SARS, and H5N1 influenza. Senator Lieberman, along with Senators Brownback and Akaka, recently introduced the Wildlife Global Animal Information Network for Surveillance (GAINS), a bill that would expand the existing, successful Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance to all wildlife. This bill would address the need for a comprehensive, coordinated approach to monitoring infectious diseases and the nexus between wildlife, people, and domestic animals.

Children's Health.
Senator Lieberman continues to be involved in initiatives and proposals to promote and protect children, their health, and their families. He is a cosponsor of the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act to increase research and funding for finding the causes of and cures for pediatric cancer. Senator Lieberman also co-sponsored the Keeping Families Together Act, which would establish a State family support grant program to keep parents from having to give up legal custody of a child with a serious emotional disturbance to obtain necessary mental health services.

In May of 2007, Senator Lieberman co-sponsored the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, a bill that would reauthorize SCHIP and cover the over $600 million shortfall that 11 states may experience if additional SCHIP funds are not provided, help to enroll the 7 out of 10 uninsured children that are SCHIP eligible, but not enrolled, and maintain state flexibility to expand eligible child and adult groups depending on the needs and resources of the individual state.

Senator Lieberman co-sponsored the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act in March of 2007. This bill would address the fact that our schools have been inundated with foods and drinks having little or no positive nutritional value by ensuring that the standard for foods deemed to provide at least a minimal level of nutritional value is aligned with current nutrition science standards; and that the Federal investment in school lunch and breakfast programs is promoting child health.

Senator Lieberman has also asked Senate colleagues to increase funding to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to prevent the millions of cases of reported child abuse in the US each year. Children that are abused are more likely to have numerous other mental health, physical, and educational difficulties. Senator Lieberman continues to work to keep children and their families healthy and strong.

Medicare Prescription Drug Program.
In April of 2007, Senator Lieberman voted to allow the Senate to debate the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for fair drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry on behalf of Medicare patients.

On December 13, 2005 Senator Lieberman co-sponsored the Medicare Informed Choice Act which in addition to the above, allows seniors to switch plans one time with no penalty and ensures that seniors will not lose employer-based drug coverage during the first year of the part D program. He was a cosponsor of the Nelson amendment to the Budget Reconciliation bill which reimbursed states for implementation problems associated with transitioning seniors who formerly obtained their drugs through Medicaid to the new Part D program.

The passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) in 2003, provides for the first time a voluntary pharmaceutical benefit, called Part D, to Medicare enrollees. Now that Part D is law, Senator Lieberman continues to be concerned about its implementation.

Senator Lieberman has also created a section to address frequently asked questions about Part D on his webpage in response to Connecticut seniors' requests for assistance.

Community Health Centers.
Senator Lieberman believes in strengthening our nation's public health services. According to Senator Lieberman, community health centers play a critical role in our public health infrastructure. In addition to working for these centers nationally, he announced that Connecticut would receive more than $3.4 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services to help operate community health centers. Senator Lieberman is a co-sponsor of the Health Centers Renewal Act of 2007, sponsored by Senator Kennedy, which reauthorizes the funding for community health centers from 2008-2012. Senator Lieberman is also a co-sponsor of the Community Health Center Reinvestment Act, which would reauthorize and expand the community health center program from 5 to 8 years, increase funding for the program, and double the size of the National Health Service Corps.

Tobacco.
Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in this country and is responsible for 40,000 excess deaths per year. Senator Lieberman remains committed to decreasing tobacco use amongst Americans, especially amongst children, 4,000 of whom try smoking for the first time everyday.

Senator Lieberman is a co-sponsor of The Family Smoking Prevention and the Tobacco Control Act of 2007, a bill introduced by Senator Kennedy that would allow the HHS Secretary to establish tobacco product standards to protect the public health and provide FDA with authorities to restrict the sales, advertising, and promotion of tobacco products to adolescents and children.

On March 11, 2004, Senator Lieberman cosponsored S.A. 2799, an amendment which increased the cigarette tax by $1 in order to provide resources for medical research, disease control, wellness, tobacco cessation and preventative health efforts including substance abuse and mental health services. He urged the four largest tobacco manufacturers to continue paying to the Public Education Fund which provides funding for the American Legacy Foundations "truth campaign." The truth campaign is the only national public education campaign devoted to curbing tobacco use, and one of the largest and most successful youth smoking prevention campaigns in the country. On July 7, 2004, Lieberman joined six other Senators in supporting the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulation of the tobacco industry as part of the $9.6 billion dollar tobacco buyout provision in the Foreign Sales Corporation Bill. This landmark provision would have given FDA meaningful effective oversight of tobacco research, manufacturing, and marketing practices. Though Lieberman and his colleagues fought to keep this provision in the bill, it was stripped from the final legislation (H. R. 4520) which passed on October 22, 2004. Lieberman remains as committed to tobacco regulation as ever.

Binge and Underage Drinking. Alcohol use by persons under age 21 has been identified as a major public health problem. Studies note that it increases the risks for disability and may be detrimental to the developing brain. Minors who drink are more likely to commit suicide, break the law, or be victims of violence. Alcohol is implicated in nearly one-third of youth traffic fatalities. The total annual cost of underage drinking is estimated at $62 billion. While most laws intended to prevent underage drinking are passed at the state level, there has been legislative activity and interest at the federal level to support states' efforts to curb the problem.

On March 6, 2007, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an official call to increase efforts to curb underage drinking. As Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu stated, "Alcohol is the most heavily abused substance by America's youth."

Senator Lieberman has also been deeply concerned about the serious public health issue of binge drinking among college students in Connecticut and nationally that poses a dangerous threat to the health of young people. On May 15, 2002, as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, he held a hearing to examine new federal research on this subject and to hear what the experts believe are the primary causes and the most effective solutions. The report the committee studied estimates that an average of four students die each day on college campuses due to alcohol-related causes.

During both the 107th and 108th Congresses, Senator Lieberman introduced legislation, along with former Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), entitled the Communities Combating College Drinking and Drug Use Act (S. 406), that would help address the epidemic of underage drinking, binge drinking, and drug-related problems on college and university campuses across the United States.

Immigration

Immigration Reform.
Senator Lieberman, co-chair of the Senate Hispanic Task Force, supports comprehensive immigration reform. He wants to bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows by offering them a path to legal residency and citizenship. He supports additional immigration visas, so that spouses and children will no longer have to wait years to be reunited with their family members in the U.S. And he supports a guestworker program that will allow people to come to the U.S. legally to fill jobs and after a few years, apply for legal residency or return to their home country.

Senator Lieberman has co-sponsored legislation to achieve comprehensive immigration reform (the McCain-Kennedy legislation), to make it easier for young immigrants who graduate high school to attend college (the DREAM Act), and to make pregnant women and young children who are recent immigrants eligible for federal heath benefits (the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act). He has also pressured the Department of Homeland Security to improve conditions of detention for asylum seekers. In all of these cases, he is fighting for the rights of people who are, too often, neglected by our government and exploited by employers.

Social Security

Senator Lieberman is committed to continuing and strengthening Social Security, the most successful social insurance program in American history.

Social Security has been a spectacular success, saving millions of American seniors, survivors and disabled from poverty. But the combination of baby boom retirements, an aging population, and our current budget crisis will over time put the program in a precarious position.

Senator Lieberman believes that, while Social Security may not be in immediate jeopardy, it is better to act sooner rather than later so that future generations will be able to count on Social Security as past generations of Americans have. Every year we wait to act means hundreds of billions of dollars more we and our children and grandchildren must pay later. Reforms must reinforce the program and the values it embodies, not undermine them. We should look at options that address Social Security's long-term solvency and preserve the guaranteed nature of the retirement benefit.

Senator Lieberman is opposed to the President's proposal to privatize Social Security through the establishment of private savings accounts carved-out of the taxes that support the current system. Based on what he knows of the plan, the private savings accounts would not preserve the essential guaranteed Social Security benefit and would add trillions of dollars of debt. Senator Lieberman cannot support any plan that does nothing to improve the long-term solvency of Social Security, or would hasten the program's demise. To that effect, he joined 41 Senate Democrats in a letter to President opposing his plan for private accounts. Read a full copy of their letter here: http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=232853.

Senator Lieberman believes that all who want to strengthen Social Security - as he does - have an obligation to engage in the important reform debate with an open mind and to offer constructive reform proposals. For example, Senator Lieberman in the past has been a champion of Kidsave, a plan which would complement Social Security benefits by providing children with seed money at an early age and help them develop a nest egg for retirement. Again, these reforms must reinforce and preserve the program and the values it embodies, not undermine them.

Veterans/Military Retirees

Identity Theft.
Senator Lieberman is deeply troubled that personal identity information of more than 26 million veterans has been put at risk because of a security lapse at a federal agency. This is another reminder that the federal government is not doing enough to protect the security of its computers and the vast amounts of sensitive data those systems contain. He is particularly outraged that this latest security breach affects our veterans, who sacrifice much for their country, and who deserve every protection of their personal information.

In addition to addressing this issue at a joint hearing of the Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee and Veterans Affairs Committee, and sponsoring legislation to require the VA to provide real-time credit monitoring to each veteran whose identity data was stolen, Senator Lieberman will monitor the progress of ongoing inquiries by the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General and by the FBI, and intends to explore more generally how personal data throughout the government can be better secured against this kind of loss.

Veterans/Military Retirees Benefits.
Senator Lieberman has been a long time advocate for veterans and military retirees in Connecticut and across the nation. In June of 2007, Senator Lieberman co-sponsored the Bayh-Clinton Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Access to Options Act. TBI has been identified as the "signature injury" afflicting Iraq and Afghanistan service members. This bill would allow service members with severe TBI to remain on active duty and access cognitive therapy in private rehabilitation facilities; ensure that every TBI patient has a trained medical advocate; and Commission an annual GAO report that details VA progress in treating TBI.

In April of 2007, Senator Lieberman introduced The Mental Health Care for our Wounded Warriors Act to research and coordinate all aspects of military mental health policies and services, and to reduce the shortage of mental health professionals in order to provide the best mental health care to members of our armed forces. The Centers of Excellence within the DoD would research and guide the development and implementation of comprehensive strategies to prevent, identify, and treat combat-related mental health conditions, emphasizing PTSD and traumatic brain injuries; develop, identify, and disseminate best practices for treatment of combat-related mental health conditions and brain injuries; and develop measures to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health illnesses. The legislation would require the DoD to report back to Congress within 45 days on the need for Congressional intervention to provide financial incentives to reduce mental health workforce shortages.

In February of 2007, Senator Lieberman co-sponsored Senator Reid's Retired Pay Restoration Act, legislation that would permit certain retired members of the uniformed services who have a service-connected disability to receive both disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for their disability and either retired pay or Combat-Related Special Compensation.

On June 30th, 2005, Senator Lieberman helped pass $1.5 billion dollars in supplemental funds to the VA to meet the growing medical needs of military retirees and the Iraq war. In March 2004, Senator Lieberman cosponsored an amendment to the Budget Resolution which, although not agreed to, would have created a reserve fund to allow for an increase in veterans' medical care by $2.7 billion. That April, he wrote to the chairman and ranking member of the veterans' appropriations subcommittee asking for substantially increased funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical and prosthetic research program, to sustain current medical and prosthetic research initiatives and to provide the program growth necessary to attract and retain quality clinical staff.

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