Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Our national and state health infrastructure will benefit greatly from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed by Congress and signed into law in February 2009. More details about the plan's protection of Medicaid and insurance for those who lose their jobs, and investments in medical research and health information technology (IT), are available by clicking here.

Funding for Biomedical Research to Cure, Detect, and Prevent Disease

As a Member of the health appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Lowey was instrumental in the doubling of the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) between 1998 and 2003. Unfortunately, since then, funding for biomedical research has not kept pace with inflation. The loss of purchasing power at the NIH is resulting in fewer research studies and grants provided to hospitals, universities and research institutions that conduct groundbreaking medical research around the country.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes historic investments in medical research through NIH, most of which is directed to universities, research institutes, and medical centers. Based on historical NIH grant distributions, New York could receive up to $746 million of this total for research grants or awards. This could generate as much as $1.5 billion in new state business activity in the form of increased output of goods and services and create approximately 10,000 new jobs.

Health Information Technology

Rep. Lowey supports balancing individual privacy protections with the use of innovative technologies that will modernize our health care system, reduce medical errors, and allow doctors to better track treatments, medications, and lab tests. She voted for legislation to develop national guidelines and quality assurance measures for health information technology. She has also supported legislation that would grant patients the right to a clear explanation of who will have access to their personal health information before it is disclosed, the right to limit disclosure only to individuals involved with their health care, and the right to view and supplement their medical records.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes historic investments to accelerate the adoption of Health IT by 2014. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will reduce health care costs for the federal government by $12 billion over 10 years.
Women's Health

Congresswoman Lowey is a leader in Congress on protecting women's health services. She authored the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, passed by Congress and signed into law in 2008, to increase federal research on the links between breast cancer and the environment, a relationship that is not fully understood and could be vital to battling the disease.

The most effective ways to reduce abortion are by making family planning education and services affordable and accessible. That is why Loweyfought rules proposed by the Bush Administration that would have allowed health care providers to deny women a wide range of health services, including birth control and counseling.

Congresswoman Lowey and First Lady Michelle Obama promote breast cancer awareness and early detection at the White House.

Specialty Care and Prescription Drugs

Rep. Lowey led the charge in fighting against a damaging policy instituted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid known as the "75% Rule." This misguided policy would have resulted in the denial of critical rehabilitation care for thousands of individuals, particularly seniors. A provision based on legislation Rep. Lowey sponsored to permanently freeze the Rule was signed into law as part of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act.

Rep. Lowey believes we must bring down the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs for all Americans. In addition to voting to allow for the re-importation of safe prescription drugs from other countries, she supports bringing generic drugs to the market in a more timely and cost-effective way. She has also cosponsored legislation that would implement additional safeguards so the pharmaceutical industry cannot thwart competition in the drug market.

Rep. Lowey has voted to allow the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices. Lowey is also working to ensure that seniors do not fall victim to overzealous or unscrupulous marketing tactics by prescription drug plans. She introduced legislation to create stricter penalties for Medicare prescription drug plans that violate CMS marketing guidelines, require public notification of drug plans that violate those guidelines, and call for a Government Accountability Office study on marketing practices.

Improving Access to Health Care for the Disabled

Congresswoman Lowey believes that an important measure of any health system is adequacy of care for its most vulnerable patients. Unfortunately, a 2006 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than 37% of individuals with disabilities, both physical and intellectual, have fair to poor health compared to 8.2% of individuals without disabilities. In order to eliminate the barriers faced by people with disabilities when accessing health care services, she has introduced legislation that would establish accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment for people with disabilities, create a national wellness grant program that focuses on the unique challenges faced by the disabled, and improve the competency and clinical skills of physicians and dentists in providing care to patients with disabilities.

Protecting Seniors from Unfair Medicare Premium Increases

In 2007, the federal government's share of Medicare Part B premiums was reduced for beneficiaries with an annual income over $80,000. Within 3 years, some seniors could be paying as much as $327 per month for Part B. That is why Rep. Lowey introduced the Medicare Part B Premium Fairness Act, which would eliminate means testing altogether. Coming up with solutions to ensure Medicare's financial stability requires bipartisan and thoughtful debate in Congress. Placing greater financial burdens on millions of seniors is simply not the answer.

Fairly Reimbursing Physicians

Unfortunately, the current Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula for reimbursing physicians has generated negative updates every year since 2001. Rep. Lowey believes that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that physicians are able to provide necessary health services to Medicare recipients. That is why she has cosponsored legislation that would block future projected cuts and replace the current SGR with updates based on inflation in physicians' practice costs rather than the gross domestic product. She voted for the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010, which reversed a cut and increased physician reimbursement rates by 2.2%.

Combating Childhood Obesity

Too many children don't get enough exercise and don't eat enough healthy foods, and obesity is reaching epidemic proportions and shortening life expectancy for our youth. In addition, obesity costs our country as much as $147 billion a year.

Rep. Lowey wrote the Stop Obesity in Schools Act, which would require the federal government to create a strategy to reduce obesity by 10% and provide grants to schools and local governments to adopt wellness policies. She has also introduced the IMPACT Act, which would train health professionals to identify and treat those at risk for obesity, promote physical and nutritional education, and provide grants to make communities more conducive for exercise.

Long-Term Care

Rep. Lowey believes we must improve access to and quality of long-term care and provide assistance to families nursing a relative or friend. She supports legislation to provide an above-the-line tax deduction for long-term care premiums and tax relief for those with long-term care needs. She also authored the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act, which would ensure that the millions of Americans who take time off from work to care for a loved one continue to earn Social Security benefits.

Curbing Child Abuse

Tragically, one of the most common forms of child abuse, abusive head trauma including Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), is also the most deadly for abused children. Congresswoman Lowey has introduced legislation that would establish a national public health campaign to educate Americans about the dangers of shaking, as well as provide healthy preventive strategies for caregivers to cope with a crying or fussy infant. The bill would also require a National Action Plan to identify effective, evidence-based strategies for prevention and awareness of SBS and a 24-hour hotline and website to provide support for families affected by SBS or struggling with crying infants.

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