This Week: Holiday Greetings, Health Care, Fox News Appearance

During this time of year, I know that many of you reach out to help those who are in need. For a third year in a row, I'm proud to help sponsor and join with the Metropolitan Inter Faith Association to deliver Meals on Wheels in Binghampton on Christmas morning. I thank them and you for your service during this holiday season.

It is also appropriate that we remember our servicemen and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and those families celebrating another holiday waiting for their safe return.

Next week, on New Year’s Day, I’ll be speaking at Councilman Myron Lowery’s prayer breakfast at 9 a.m. for the third year in a row.

With best wishes for safe travel.

Senate Nears End of Health Care Debate

The Senate is nearing a final vote on their version of the health care reform bill. The vote could come as early as 8 a.m. on Christmas Eve.

The Senate bill is broadly similar to the House bill that passed last month. Both bills ensure greater access to health care providers for millions of Americans. Both bills have comprehensive bans on lifetime insurance limits, premium disparities based on health status and gender, and coverage denials for preexisting conditions. Both bills would strengthen Medicare for seniors and fix the Prescription Drug donut hole. Both bills provide affordability credits to families to purchase health insurance.

Both bills also make substantial investments to create new or expand existing health centers in an additional 10,000 communities that will bring health care to nearly 25 million Americans. Community health centers now provide primary health care, dental care, mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs for about 20 million Americans. The centers offer basic services like prenatal care, childhood immunizations and cancer screenings. Open to everyone, these centers care for patients covered by Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance as well as those who have no insurance. I commend Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for securing this commitment in the Senate bill and was pleased to vote for a similar provision in the House-passed version of health care reform legislation.

Additionally, Senator Sanders was able to secure funding for another shared priority – increasing loan repayments and scholarships through the National Health Service Corps to create an additional 20,000 primary care doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and mental health professionals. This is similar to a House proposal that I supported last month that’s aimed at encouraging recent medical school graduates to practice in inner cities where they are needed.

However, there are some key differences between the two health care reform proposals. The House bill would provide coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans, while the Senate bill would only cover 31 million. The House bill is paid for by increasing taxes on individuals making $500,000 and couples earning $1 million a year, and through ending overpayments in the Medicare Advantage Program – the federal government pays 14 percent more for this supplemental private plan than it would for the same people in traditional Medicare.

The Senate pays for their bill by taxing so-called Cadillac health insurance plans, although high-risk occupations (firefighters, police officers, construction workers) would be exempt from this tax; by charging annual fees to insurance companies, drug makers, and medical device manufacturers; cutting Medicare Advantage program funding; raising the Medicare payroll tax rate; and, a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services.

Along with paying for reform, both bills contain different funding levels for wellness and prevention programs. For instance, the community health center expansion was funded at $14 billion in the House bill, but only $10 billion in the Senate measure. These differences, along with discussions on including a public option, abortion limitations and employer mandates will need to be worked out by a joint House-Senate conference committee. I will press to ensure that my infant mortality legislation, the NEWBORN Act, is also part of the final bill sent to President Obama. The conference committee will begin meeting early next year.

I am committed to voting for a final bill that makes insurance coverage affordable for those who need it, provides security for our seniors, ensures that our children have access to doctors, and holds the insurance industry accountable.

Increasing Access to Credit to Create Jobs

On Tuesday, I appeared on Fox News to discuss the need to unfreeze the credit markets so that small banks can make loans to help people buy a car or a house, pay for college or medical expenses or start a small business in their community. To watch the interview, please click here.

Opposing a Congressional Pay Raise

I have again signed on as co-sponsor of a measure to block federal lawmakers from receiving automatic pay increases, this time for the 2011 fiscal year.

In these lean economic times, Congress should demonstrate fiscal responsibility and end the practice of automatic pay raises. With unemployment high and so many families in the 9th District struggling to make ends meet, it is the right thing to do.

I’m pleased that an earlier effort to block the automatic pay increase for FY2010 succeeded. I am hopeful this most recent effort will also pass.