eNewsletter

Statement

eNewsletter

Dear Friends:

The United States spends more than any other nation on health care -- $2.3 trillion a year - yet we have the highest rate of preventable deaths among 19 industrialized nations, and the overall health of Americans lags far behind most developed countries.

From 1987 to 2000, America's annual health care spending has doubled, yet we have not seen an equivalent improvement in the overall health of our citizens. Many other countries spend far less on health care, but have better outcomes. This disparity is the result of how we target our health care spending. We may spend billions on treatment, but we allocate less than four cents of every $1 to prevention and public health.

We need to make wiser choices on how we invest in health care. As a member of the House of Representatives, I was successful in getting important preventive benefits included in the Medicare program, including screenings for colon, breast, prostate and cervical cancers, and diabetes management.

The screening and detection improvements we made to the Medicare program in the last decade have saved lives and money. Consider this: Medicare pays $98 for a mammogram, but if breast cancer is not detected early, treatment could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars. In fact, one drug used to treat late stage breast cancer can cost as much as $40,000 a year.

As a Senator, one of my top priorities is to re-direct our health care spending priorities to target prevention, detection, awareness, and education.

Congress recently took a step in the right direction by overriding the President's veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. This new law contains three initiatives I introduced to strengthen preventive benefits for seniors. It waives the Part B deductible and extends coverage of the "Welcome to Medicare" physical from six months to one year; it allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand preventive services as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force; and it requires Medicare Part D to include coverage of previously excluded anti-anxiety medicines, such as Xanax, and Valium.

We now need to turn our attention to other preventive strategies that can make a difference. For example, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of long-term disability. It is estimated that the direct and indirect costs of stroke exceed $65 billion a year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there are approximately 89,000 Marylanders who are living with the consequences of stroke.

I have co-sponsored The Stop Stroke Act, which would authorize a grant program to help states like Maryland coordinate stroke care and encourage stroke education and awareness campaigns. It also expresses the Senate's support for the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry, which collects data and shares best practices to promote improved quality in stroke care.

We also need to improve oral health, particularly in children. Last year, the tragically preventable death of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver from Prince George's County illustrated the consequences of poor access to oral health care. Because of lack of access to a dentist who could perform an $80 tooth extraction, his untreated tooth abscess spread to his brain, and after two extensive operations, he died. In addition to the tragic loss of life, the final cost of Deamonte's medical care exceeded $250,000.

Last year, Congress passed a State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization that would guarantee dental care for all children in the program. It included my proposal to expand families' access to information about covered services and available providers. Unfortunately, President Bush vetoed the bill -- twice. I recently joined with Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME) in introducing the Oral Health Initiative Act, which would identify and coordinate all federal programs that combat dental disease and improve access to oral health care.

The battle to improve and expand prevention and detection services is not a new one, but it is an important one that continues to be waged in Congress. As a nation, we are spending more than $2 trillion on health care, yet too many of our citizens are suffering or dying from illnesses that could have been prevented, or treated at an earlier stage before permanent damage. It's time that we make wiser choices on how we spend our health care dollars.

Best wishes.

Ben

Source