Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Health Care

Throughout out her entire career in government, health care has been among Rep. Louise Slaughter's top priorities. Rep. Slaughter is considered one of the top health care authorities in the U.S. Congress, with a range of legislative victories under her belt. As the only Member of Congress holding a master's degree in public health, she is uniquely qualified to examine and discuss the health care issues before our nation.

Rep. Slaughter's record on health care reflects her broad interest and deep commitment in these issues. She is acknowledged as the leading expert in Congress on genetic discrimination issues, having sponsored two bills on this issue and garnered the support of a majority of Congress for banning this practice. During the early 1990s, she was responsible for securing the first $500 million dedicated by Congress to breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She was a leader in efforts to force the NIH to include women in all clinical trials, a practice that had been resisted for many years. She sponsored the first law directing the NIH to research the miscarriage drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), which had serious health consequences for some children exposed in utero. Rep. Slaughter has also authored legislation to improve research on women's environmental health, educate Americans about colorectal cancer, and reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program. Rep. Slaughter has been active on a wide range of other health issues, including antimicrobial resistance, female genital mutilation, environmental health, and men's health.

Rep. Slaughter is especially committed to the health care needs of her home district. Her office acts as a liaison between local health care providers and federal health care agencies. She regularly supports applications from area hospitals and researchers for federal grant funds. In 2007 alone, over $100 million in federal grants related to health care came into the 28th Congressional District. For Fiscal Year 2008, she obtained $3.2 million for Koning to develop and commercialize cone beam CT scanners to provide breast cancer diagnostic accuracy at lower radiation levels; almost $500,000 for Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center to upgrade equipment and staff their cardiac research center; and $3 million for the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute to research how viruses mutate to transfer from humans to animals.

PAMTA

On March 17, 2009, Rep. Slaughter introduced HR 1549, The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) in the House of Representatives. This critical legislation is designed to ensure that we preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for the treatment of human diseases.

Background

Antibiotics are an indispensable part of modern medicine, protecting all of us from deadly infections. Unfortunately, over the past several years, the widespread practice of using antibiotics to promote livestock growth and compensate for unsanitary, crowded conditions has led to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria and other germs, rendering many of our most powerful drugs ineffective. PAMTA will limit the use of antibiotics on our livestock to ensure that we are not inadvertently creating antibiotic- resistant diseases that we can't fight with modern medicine.

According to estimates by the Union of Concerned Scientists, 50 million pounds of antibiotics - nearly 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. - have been used in food animals for purposes other than treating disease.

Resistant pathogens travel from humans to animals via food handling, food consumption, animal handling, as well as through soil and water contamination.

Indeed, there is compelling evidence that the widespread usage of antibiotics in agriculture has diminished the effectiveness of antibiotics in human medicine.

A 2002 analysis of more than 500 scientific articles and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that "many lines of evidence link antimicrobial resistant human infections to foodborne pathogens of animal origin."

The Institute of Medicine's 2003 report on Microbial Threats to Health concluded "Clearly, a decrease in the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in human medicine alone is not enough. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse in animals and agriculture as well."

When we go to the grocery store to pick up dinner, we should be able to buy our food without worrying that eating it will expose our family to potentially deadly bacteria that will no longer respond to our medical treatments.

Antibiotic resistant bacterial infections increase health care costs by over $20 billion each year and increase societal costs by $35 billion. Two million Americans acquire a bacterial infection during their hospital stay every year, and 70 percent of their infections will be resistant to the drugs commonly used to treat them. As a result, every day thirty-eight patients in our hospitals will die of those infections.

We cannot stand by while our life-saving antibiotics become obsolete. A National Academy of Sciences report states that, "a decrease in antimicrobial use in human medicine alone will have little effect on the current situation. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse in animals and agriculture as well."

Summary of PAMTA

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act would:

* Phase out the non-therapeutic use in livestock of medically important antibiotics;
* Require this same tough standard of new applications for approval of animal antibiotics;
* Does not restrict use of antibiotics to treat sick animals or to treat pets and other animals not used for food.

Organizations endorsing PAMTA
Over 300 organizations representing health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane and other interests including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, have supported enactment of legislation to phase out non-therapeutic use medically important antibiotics in farm animals.

Action during the 111th Session of Congress

During the 111th Session of Congress, PAMTA gained enormous momentum. On July 13, 2009, Congresswoman Slaughter chaired a Rules Committee hearing on the legislation. Following this hearing, the Energy and Commerce Committee held several hearings on antibiotic resistance. Congresswoman Slaughter submitted testimony to the Energy and Commerce Committee on HR 1549, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act.

Likewise, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has demonstrated its heightened concern with antibiotic usage in agriculture by releasing guidance that recommended the end of the use of antibiotics for growth promotion (download guidance). While the FDA's recommendation is a step in the right direction, it is not strong enough to protect the health of American families. Representative Slaughter, together with several of her colleagues submitted comments on this guidance calling for strong regulations to be issued (download comments).

Rep. Slaughter looks forward to working with the over one hundred cosponsors of this important legislation to ensure its speedy passage into law.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
On May 21, 2008, legislation authored by Rep. Slaughter prohibiting health insurance companies and employers from discriminating based on genetic information became law. The Genetic Non-discrimination Information Act, will prevent health insurers from canceling, denying, refusing to renew, or changing the terms or premiums of coverage based on genetic information. It also would prohibit employers from making hiring, firing, promotion, and other employment-related decision based on genetic factors. This legislation first passed the House of Representatives on April 5th 2008 by a vote of 420-3, it then underwent minor revision and passed unanimously in the Senate, 95-0, on April 24, 2008. On May 1st, 2008, the bill went before the House once again where it passed 414-1 and was cleared for the President's signature. On May 21st, 2008, H.R. 493 was signed into law by the President and is now public law no. 110-233. Chairwoman Slaughter's remarks on this historic 21st century civil rights legislation can be found here.

Stem Cells

Rep. Slaughter has been an avid supporter of the Stem Cell Research. She was an original cosponsor of HR 3, which passed the House on January 11th by a vote of 253-174. She also voted in favor of S 5, which passed the House on June 7th by a vote of 247-176. She has managed the rules in support of allowing consideration of this legislation and has spoken on the House Floor numerous times in support of this research.
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Health Care Reform and Older Americans

Representative. Slaughter is proud to have supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, P.L. 111-148, March 23, 2010). Health care reform will dramatically improve the quality of health care services for seniors, reduce prescription drug costs, and improve access to preventative services.

Strengthening Medicare

The Patient Protection Act will improve the quality, accessibility, and solvency of Medicare. Health care reform ends out-of-pocket service charges for preventive services such as the flu vaccine, mammograms, and colonoscopy. The new law will also extend the solvency of Medicare by weeding out waste and achieving payment parity between traditional and private Medicare plans. In addition, the Patient Protection Act incentivizes provider coordination through new payment systems.

Closing the Donut Hole

The Patient Protection Act closes the donut hole, the gap in coverage under Medicare Part D that forces seniors to cover drug costs out-of-pocket. Seniors who reach the donut hole in 2010 will receive a $250 check to cover drug costs. In 2011, a 50% discount will be provided by drug companies. By the end of the decade the donut hole will close completely. An estimated 9,000 seniors in my district will save an average of $700 in 2011 and more than $3,000 in 2020.

Helping Early Retirees by Helping Employers

Many people retire before the age of 65, forcing them to buy expensive insurance plans or go without coverage before Medicare benefits begin. Employers sometimes fill this gap but many companies can't afford this expense. Over the past 20 years the number of employers providing plans to retirees has fallen drastically -- from 66% in 1988 to just 31% in 2008. Health care reform provides $5 billion in financial assistance to employers to help them maintain coverage for early retirees 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare. Beginning on June 21 of this year, this temporary program will fill the gap before the health insurance exchanges are established in 2014.

Helping older adults to access long-term care and home care

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established a national voluntary insurance program for working individuals to help them pay for home care and other services. This program will help participants to stay in their homes.

Representative Slaughter's Work on Prescription Drug Costs

Representative Slaughter is a long-time champion for seniors and working families who are struggling to pay for prescription drugs. In 2003, Rep. Slaughter opposed the Medicare Modernization Act, including the prescription drug plan, as it failed to provide meaningful relief for seniors, while providing excessive benefits to drug companies. From the "donut hole" provision that required seniors to pay significant out of pocket costs, to the restrictions placed on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) so they could not negotiate lower price drugs for our seniors, the Medicare Part D plan has been a debacle since its conception. Health care reform will correct many of these problems. During the 111th Congress, Rep. Slaughter against legislation that would have increased Medicare Part B premiums; she also sponsored legislation to provide needed relief to seniors as there was no Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2010.

Rep. Slaughter has long supported efforts to provide all seniors with a prescription drug benefit through the Medicare program. In order to focus public attention on this problem, Rep. Slaughter saw off a group of her constituents as they traveled to Montreal, Canada to purchase their prescriptions at dramatically lower prices in 2000. In the following years, she released three separate reports showing that local seniors and individuals without health insurance paid significantly higher prices for prescription medication than pharmaceutical companies' most favored customers.

Rep. Slaughter also supported the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) when it passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 355- 59 on Jul 15, 2008. MIPPPA amended titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to extend expiring provisions under the Medicare Program, to improve access to preventive and mental health services, to enhance low-income benefit programs, and to maintain access to care in rural areas, including pharmacy access, and for other purposes.

Environmental Health

Rep. Slaughter shares the growing concern that hormone disrupting pollutants in our environment may explain the rise in occurrences of childhood cancers, testicular cancer, juvenile diabetes, thyroid disorders, learning disabilities, cognitive impairments and autoimmune disorders over the past 30 years. Despite the progress made in understanding the link between these chemicals and hormone disruption, further research is still needed. Rep. Slaughter believes that investing in research today could prevent and treat a broad range of diseases and disorders in future generations. During the 111th Congress, Rep. Slaughter reintroduced The Environmental Hormone Disruption Act and the Women's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Act.

In July 2005, Rep. Slaughter joined researchers from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) to publicize a shocking study documenting the degree of chemical pollution present in the bodies of newborn infants. The EWG investigation tested blood from ten newborn infants for a range of chemical pollutants, many of which are associated with abnormal development and poor health. On average, the infants had over 200 industrial chemicals in their blood.

Rep. Slaughter's blood was also tested, and was revealed to contain 271 harmful substances. For over three decades, the U.S. had seen a steep rise in the occurrence of numerous diseases and disorders impacting the minds and bodies of our children. At the same time, more than 80,000 new chemicals have been introduced into our environment since the 1950s. While the evidence is mounting that there is an association between these chemicals and hormone disruption, research remains limited, particularly on the chemicals' impact on women. Increased investments in research now could prevent and treat a broad range of diseases and disorders in future generations. The Environmental Hormone Disruption Act authorizes the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to conduct a comprehensive program to research and educate the public on the health effects of hormone-disrupting chemicals. The Women's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Act will authorize the NIEHS to establish multidisciplinary research centers to investigate how environmental factors may be related to women's health and disease prevention.

The Children's Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act

Rep. Slaughter has supported every American's right to accessible, affordable, high quality health care. HR 3162, the CHAMP Act makes important and necessary strides to ensure this right for all Americans, particularly children and seniors. This bill reauthorizes the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for 6 million children and provides 5 million more low income children with health coverage. The CHAMP Act maintains current SCHIP eligibility laws at the same time giving states the tools to reach the millions of uninsured children who are eligible, but not enrolled in the program. Additionally, it offers coverage to pregnant women. In addition to expanding SCHIP, the bill makes improvements for Medicare beneficiaries. Instead of subsidizing HMOs as they enjoy record profits, this legislation will curb overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans, thereby benefiting Medicare beneficiaries by reducing costs and premiums and improving Medicare's long-term fiscal sustainability. The bill also ensures seniors continue to have access to the doctors of their choice by stopping a 10 percent Medicare payment cut to doctors and instead providing a 2-year increase in reimbursement rates. Finally, it reduces co-payments for mental health services and encourages seniors to seek preventive health benefits by eliminating co-payments and deductibles. Rep. Slaughter supported the CHAMP Act when it passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 225-204 on August 1st 2007.

Women's Health

As a champion of women's rights, Rep. Slaughter has worked to promote women's health throughout her career in Congress. Her work has covered a wide range of issues, from breast cancer research to genetic non-discrimination, and from reproductive health to women in science.

As a member of the House Budget Committee in the early 1990s, Rep. Slaughter was responsible for securing passage of the first $500 million dedicated to breast cancer research, as well as substantial increases in following years. She sponsored the first legislation dedicated to increasing education and research on diethylstilbestrol, or DES, an anti-miscarriage drug prescribed until 1971 that has had serious health consequences for many of the children exposed in utero.

More recently, Representative Slaughter was proud to play a leadership role in the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Act, also called health care reform. Health care reform will make a real difference for American women. For example, the Patient Protection Act will make it illegal for insurance companies to charge women more than men for the same coverage when health reform is fully implemented in 2014. Until health care reform was passed, women were charged up to 48% more in the individual market than men. This insurance company practice -- called gender-rating -- will end, thanks to health care reform. To read more on how health care reform will impact women, please click here.

Cancer research and screening is one of Rep. Slaughter's top priorities. During the 105th Congress, Rep. Slaughter brought attention to colorectal cancer, stressing the need for prevention education and awareness. She led efforts requiring insurance companies to cover screening tests for colorectal cancer, in part because too many women were unaware that colorectal cancer strikes women and men with equal frequency. In order to lead public education and awareness efforts, Rep. Slaughter requested the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issue a report on colorectal cancer in 1997. As a result of that report, she called on HHS to launch a new public awareness campaign on colorectal cancer. This language was included in the 1998 omnibus appropriations package and the campaign was launched in March 1999.

Congresswoman Slaughter also secured passage of the Eating Disorders Information and Education Act, as a part of the 1998 funding legislation for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. Information on eating disorders is now included in prominent federal health education campaigns such as healthfinder.gov, the National Women's Health Information Center, and GirlPower! Rep. Slaughter followed up by urging the Federal Trade Commission to establish consistent regulations for advertising in the commercial weight loss industry in order to reduce deceptive claims.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been a long-standing concern of Representative Slaughter. She requested a report from the Department of Health and Human Services on the continuing prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the United States in an attempt to find the best ways to discourage this practice. Rep. Slaughter was also responsible for the passage of legislative language directing the Department of Health and Human Services to continue and intensify its efforts to educate immigrant communities in the U.S. about the health dangers posed by this practice.

National Institutes of Health
Rep. Slaughter was a strong supporter of doubling the NIH budget over five years, a goal that was accomplished in 2003. As the nation's premier medical research institution, the NIH is responsible both for performing research and funding other investigators. Today, scientists are on the verge of breakthroughs in genetics, cell biology, and other areas that will allow for innovative new methods of detection and treatment, as well as hopefully cures and prevention. Doubling the NIH budget will ensure that no critical opportunity is wasted for lack of funding. Rep. Slaughter has cosponsored annual resolutions and signed yearly letters to the Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in support of increasing the NIH budget.

Lead Paint

As a scientist, Rep. Slaughter is committed to working on our nation's public health and environmental problems. Lead poisoning still impacts approximately 250,000 children in the United States every year. Repeated studies have linked lead poisoning with developmental delays, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), IQ reductions, hearing loss, sight problems, and other chronic health conditions.

Rep. Slaughter has a long legacy of work to end childhood lead poisoning and improve the health and safety of housing nationwide. During this Congress, Rep. Slaughter has fought for lead prevention and healthy housing initiatives at the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), at the Department for Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On March 19, 2010, Rep. Slaughter led two letters to the House Appropriations committee, urging sufficient funding for lead and healthy housing efforts in the HUD and CDC budgets. These letters helped to maintain funding in a difficult fiscal climate.

Eliminating lead poisoning is one of the nation's top environmental health priorities, and Rep. Slaughter believes that Congress must finish the task.

The Benefits of Health Care Reform In the 28th Congressional District of New York

UPDATE: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also required the creation of an informative webiste for consumers, which is now available at http://www.healthcare.gov/.

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law historic health care legislation. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will make health care affordable for the middle class, provide security for seniors, and guarantee access to health insurance for the uninsured - while reducing the federal deficit by billions of dollars.
In New York's 28th district, the President's health care reform bill will:

* Improve coverage for 338,000 residents with health insurance.
* Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 180,000 families and 12,700 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
* Improve Medicare for 107,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
* Extend coverage to 22,000 uninsured residents.
* Guarantee that 7,600 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
* Protect 1,000 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
* Allow 57,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents' insurance plans.
* Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 42 community health centers.
* Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $149 million annually.

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