Securing Half a Billion Federal Dollars for Tennessee Hospitals

Dear Friend,

This week, I led a successful effort to secure more than half a billion dollars for Tennessee’s hospitals, the Tennessee General Assembly revived a plan to expand our state’s Medicaid system, and I introduced several bills aimed at protecting Memphis consumers. I also introduced the House companion to the historic, ground-breaking medical marijuana bill authored by Senators Cory Booker, Rand Paul, and Kirsten Gillibrand, which is partially intended to memorialize Chloe Grauer, a 3-year-old Memphian whose life could have been saved by the legislation. Keep reading to learn more about what happened this week, or if you’d like to receive the updates in this eNewsletter (and more) as they happen simply “like” my Facebook page. Be sure to check it regularly, as it will be updated often with news, pictures, and videos.

Securing Half a Billion Federal Dollars for Tennessee Hospitals
Getting Memphians Bigger Tax Returns
Helping Uninsured Memphians Gain Health Care Coverage
Working to Expand TennCare for Low-Income Tennesseans
Protecting Memphians from Tax Fraudsters Like Mo’ Money & Predatory Lenders
Relieving the Burden of Student Loan Debt
Working with Memphians to Fight Alzheimer’s
Bringing Sanity to our Nation’s Criminal Drug Policies
Protecting Precious Artwork and Helping Make It Available to Americans

Securing Half a Billion Federal Dollars for Tennessee Hospitals

Throughout my career—whether casting the deciding vote for The MED as a County Commissioner to voting to pass Affordable Care Act (ACA)—I have always fought to increase access to healthcare. Tennessee has faced a unique challenge as the only state not to receive federal government DSH (disproportionate share) payments that help hospitals cover services for those who cannot afford to pay. I have championed this funding ever since I’ve been in Congress. During a discussion of the ACA, I passionately addressed the President in support of this funding in the law for Tennessee, and my speech was effective as our state got 2 years of funding in the final bill. One of my then-colleagues, now-Washington Governor, Jay Inslee sketched a caricature encapsulating that speech, as seen above. I was pleased to announce this week a compromise I negotiated which will ensure our state receives these payments for the next decade. As Vice President Joe Biden would say, this was a big deal. Read more about the agreement here.

Getting Memphians Bigger Tax Returns

The Earned Income Tax Credit adds an average of $2,400 to qualifying tax refunds and is too important for people to overlook. I hope all citizens of the Ninth District take advantage of credit if they are eligible for it. More information can be found here.

Helping Uninsured Memphians Gain Health Care Coverage

As you prepare to file your taxes this year, you may notice that your refund is smaller than you had expected if you did not have health insurance coverage last year. You can avoid a similar reduction in next year's tax refund by ensuring that you are enrolled in a qualified health insurance plan this year. HealthCare.gov has opened a special enrollment period for families and individuals who did not have coverage and are seeing reduced refunds or increased taxes owed. Clickhere to find out more about how to take advantage of this special enrollment period and lower your tax burden.

Working to Expand TennCare for Low-Income Tennesseans

After Governor Haslam’s Insure Tennessee Medicaid expansion plan was declared dead earlier this year, I am pleased that a new Tennessee General Assembly effort to revive Medicaid expansion in Tennessee is moving forward. Expanding TennCare will result in a $1 billion federal funding infusion into our state each year, boosting our economy, helping keep hospitals open and, most importantly, keeping Tennesseans alive and improving their health.

Protecting Memphians from Tax Fraudsters Like Mo’ Money & Predatory Lenders

Throughout the country, Mo’ Money was caught defrauding honest taxpayers with outrageous fees and cheating them out of the refunds they deserved. That’s one of the reasons why I introduced the Tax Return Preparer Accountability Act this week. You can read about how it would help stop dishonest business practices and protect the pocketbooks of middle-class families and the federal treasury alike by clicking here.

I also introduced legislation with Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Congressman Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania this week to shield people from those who would take advantage of them through predatory lending practices that can wreak havoc on people’s lives and perpetuate a cycle of indebtedness. You can read more about our bill here.

Relieving the Burden of Student Loan Debt

As the father of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship, which has provided more than $3 billion to help our state’s young people attend college, I’ve always worked hard to ensure that higher education remains affordable for students and families. This week, I joined Congressman Danny K. Davis of Illinois and Congressman Eric Swalwell of California in introducing a bill to help those with private student loans who are facing bankruptcy. Read more about our bill here.

Working with Memphians to Fight Alzheimer’s

On Wednesday, I met with representatives from the Alzheimer’s Association including my District contact, Miss Memphis Christine Williamson, to my Capitol Hill office to discuss legislative efforts to combat Alzheimer’s.

Bringing Sanity to our Nation’s Criminal Drug Policies

Drug policy reform is long overdue, but I am pleased that today it is an issue that unites both Democrats and Republicans. The science has been in for a long time, and keeping marijuana on Schedule I—with heroin and LSD—is ludicrous. As the Democratic lead sponsor, I joined with Congressman Don Young from Alaska, the Dean of the Republican Conference, in introducing bipartisan legislation to bring the federal government in line with the science and the American people, respect states’ rights, remove the threat of federal prosecution in states with medical marijuana, and help our citizens access a non-psychoactive treatment that could have helped save the life of 3-year-old Memphian Chloe Grauer, who suffered from hundreds of seizures each day before tragically passing away late last year. You can read more about our bill, which was also introduced in the Senate by Senators Cory Booker, Rand Paul, and Kirsten Gillibrand, here and read a CBS News story about it here.

Protecting Precious Artwork and Helping Make It Available to Americans

The House Judiciary Committee passed the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, a bipartisan bill that I helped lead with Republican Congressman Steve Chabot of Ohio which would make foreign art more accessible in American museums. I am pleased that it passed our committee and I hope the full House considers the legislation, which you can read more about here, soon.

As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress