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Dr. Michael C. Burgess Preventive Health Savings Act

Floor Speech

Date: March 19, 2024
Location: Washington, DC

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Ms. OMAR.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 766. The Dr. Michael C. Burgess Preventive Health Savings Act provides Congress with more information on the budgetary impact of preventive healthcare services.

Investing in prevention, such as early detection screenings, could improve healthcare outcomes while lowering healthcare costs in the long run.

Such lifesaving, evidence-based policies often have significant fiscal benefits for the government. The bill also ensures that the requests for this outyear estimate are bipartisan.

Both the chair and the ranking member of the Budget Committee and the primary committees of jurisdiction must all together request this information.

This request should be about our continued focus on wellness and disease prevention for the American people and not be used to justify any partisan policies.

Finally, the bill ensures that the out-year impact of prevention healthcare policies are only used as a supplemental estimate. It cannot be used for any budgetary enforcement controls. This would simply help Congress make more informed policy decisions and prevent out-year estimates to be used for any budget gimmicks.

I fully support this sensible piece of legislation, bringing us closer to more transparent and holistic budget reporting.

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Ms. OMAR. DeGette), the coauthor of the legislation.

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Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, preventive healthcare services can save lives and lower costs for families. It is time for Congress to evaluate and prioritize such innovative policies that have the potential to improve our healthcare system.

I appreciate the hard work of Representative Burgess and congratulate him on his retirement and Representative DeGette in championing this important effort 11 years in the making. I was proud to vote for this bill in committee, and I urge my colleagues to support it today.

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