Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

Issue Position: Healthcare

Medical breakthroughs, quality health care services, healthier lifestyles and miracle drugs are helping advance longevity rates and expectations among Americans. Health care ranks among the public's most important policy issues. It is virtually a matter of life and death. Beyond that, it's also an economic anchor and major employer in many communities. The health care system rings up $2.2 trillion in annual spending.

From my leadership position on the Senate Finance Committee, I work to find policy solutions that will make health care coverage more affordable and health care services accessible and accountable. In recent years, Congress responded to grassroots messages calling for portability of health insurance, curbing practices that denied coverage for pre-existing health conditions and creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit.

In 2003 I steered through Congress the first-ever, comprehensive, voluntary Medicare prescription drug benefit. The public health insurance program for seniors and disabled individuals now has 39 million beneficiaries who are enrolled in Part D.

Speaking of prescription drugs, consumers shouldn't have to second-guess what's in their medicine cabinets. I've been riding herd on the Food and Drug Administration to improve its surveillance system to ensure the safety of drugs once they've reached the marketplace ( Reforms to Improve Drug Safety System, Jan. 30, 2007). I also want better labeling standards that give consumers the information they need to know, such as risks associated with anti-depressant medications prescribed to youth and Tylenol, as examples.

Representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate allows me to wear my advocacy for Rural America on my sleeve. I have long championed federal policy (such as fixing flawed federal reimbursement formulas) that will help keep hometown hospitals and community health care centers open for business and able to recruit and retain high quality health professionals. I'm also working to help improve quality care standards and ensure patients and taxpayers get the most bang for their buck; (Getting the Most for Our Money, July 2005); ensure rural pharmacies get fair treatment under Medicare Part D (Finding the Right Dose to Help Hometown Pharmacies, Aug. 11, 2006); root out improper payments in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; strengthen federal standards regulating physician-owned hospitals; and strengthen enforcement and oversight of federal nursing home standards.

After seven years, my bipartisan Family Opportunity Act made it to the president's desk. The new law encourages parents to work and get ahead without sacrificing health coverage for their children with special needs. It allows parents to "buy" Medicaid coverage without impoverishing their families.

As momentum builds for the next presidential election in 2008, I will continue working to identify achievable solutions that will expand coverage to the 47 million uninsured. Health care services provided to the uninsured results in costs shifted to paying customers and private insurers.

From my senior position in the U.S. Senate, I will press ahead for health policy that helps individuals afford coverage; promotes wellness, preventive care and disease management; takes into account the financial impact on employers, small businesses and taxpayers; and, steers Americans to become conscientious consumers of the health care system.

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