Adam Schiff on Health Care Democratic Representative (CA-29)

Let patients and doctors decide; preserve Medicare

MEDICARE: Will work to preserve Medicare without unnecessary cuts in benefits.

Better and immediate funding for Medicare & Medicaid.

We are writing on behalf of the House Blue Dog Caucus to request that bipartisan legislation be crafted for passage before the end of this Congress that adequately addresses the funding of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP programs. As you know, over 39 million seniors and the disabled rely on the Medicare program for their health care. A further 43 million Americans rely on the Medicaid and SCHIP programs. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 has produced cuts in spending far beyond what Congress and the Congressional Budget Office anticipated when the legislation was enacted. These greater-than- expected cuts threaten to jeopardize the health care of seniors and the disabled all across the country. While the Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 did provide some relief, it is clear that we need to do more. As we approach the end of the 106 Congress, it is impossible to th overstate the need for us to work on a bipartisan basis to write meaningful legislation that can be signed by the President.

We strongly believe there is a need to separate the provisions of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protections Act from H.R. 2614 and that bipartisan negotiations should be undertaken to improve this package so that it better provides for the critical needs of vulnerable patients. We respectfully submit that by working in a bipartisan basis, the 106 Congress can take th significant actions to help alleviate the current problems being faced by health care providers and patients that must be addressed. Waiting until next year to address this problem may be too late.

Prescription drug benefit within Medicare.

We strongly believe that Congress should enact a Medicare prescription drug benefit that is available, affordable, dependable and voluntary for all seniors. The Blue Dog Coalition supports proposals to provide prescription drug coverage through a defined Medicare benefit that is available to all Medicare beneficiaries. Given the shortcomings of existing private plans, we believe that relying on private sector insurance plans will leave many beneficiaries without adequate coverage.

An effective prescription drug benefit must:
1. provide a benefit which is available to all seniors, including those in rural areas;
2. provide equal treatment for all seniors, without disparities in coverage between rural, urban and suburban regions;
3. use market power of seniors to reduce costs through competition;
4. help low and middle-income seniors afford prescription medicine costs;
5. allow participation by local pharmacists, not just mail order pharmacies; and
6. be consistent with Medicare modernization.

Relying on private sector plans to deliver prescription drug coverage will not achieve the goals outlined above. It will not be cost effective for private plans to offer coverage in rural areas, which will result in expensive government subsidies to attract plans to rural areas. Rural seniors should not be forced to pay higher premiums or have less generous benefits, simply because they live in areas that are not financially attractive to private insurance companies.”

Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care.

Promote Universal Access and Quality in Health Care
That more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance is one of our society’s most glaring inequities. Lack of insurance jeopardizes the health of disadvantaged Americans and also imposes high costs on everyone else when the uninsured lack preventive care and get treatment from emergency rooms. Washington provides a tax subsidy for insurance for Americans who get coverage from their employers but offers nothing to workers who don’t have job-based coverage.

Markets alone cannot assure universal access to health coverage. Government should enable all low-income families to buy health insurance. Individuals must take responsibility for insuring themselves and their families whether or not they qualify for public assistance.

Finally, to help promote higher quality in health care for all Americans, we need reliable information on the quality of health care delivered by health plans and providers; a “patient’s bill of rights” that ensures access to medically necessary care; and a system in which private health plans compete on the basis of quality as well as cost.

Goals for 2010
• Reduce the number of uninsured Americans by two-thirds through tax credits, purchasing pools, and other means.
• Create a system of reliable “report cards” on the quality of care delivered by health plans and providers.

Rated 100% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.

Improve services for people with autism & their families.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to:

1. convene, on behalf of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, a Treatments, Interventions, and Services Evaluation Task Force to evaluate evidence-based biomedical and behavioral treatments and services for individuals with autism;
2. establish a multi-year demonstration grant program for states to provide evidence-based autism treatments, interventions, and services.
3. establish planning and demonstration grant programs for adults with autism;
4. award grants to states for access to autism services following diagnosis;
5. award grants to University Centers of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities to provide services and address the unmet needs of individuals with autism and their families;
6. make grants to protection and advocacy systems to address the needs of individuals with autism and other emerging populations of individuals with disabilities; and
7. award a grant to a national nonprofit organization for the establishment and maintenance of a national technical assistance center for autism services and information dissemination.
8. Directs the Comptroller General to issue a report on the financing of autism services and treatments.

Establish a national childhood cancer database.

Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 - A bill to advance medical research and treatments into pediatric cancers, ensure patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer database, and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers.

Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to childhood cancer professional and direct service organizations for the expansion and widespread implementation of:
1. activities that provide information on treatment protocols to ensure early access to the best available therapies and clinical trials for pediatric cancers;
2. activities that provide available information on the late effects of pediatric cancer treatment to ensure access to necessary long-term medical and psychological care; and
3. direct resource services such as educational outreach for parents, information on school reentry and postsecondary education, and resource directories or referral services for financial assistance, psychological counseling, and other support services.

Require insurers to cover breast cancer treatment.

Congressional Summary: Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require coverage and radiation therapy for breast cancer treatment.

• Prohibits restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection; or
• Prohibits requiring that a provider obtain authorization from the plan for prescribing any such length of stay.

Congressional Findings:

1. According to the American Cancer Society, excluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women.
2. An estimated 40,480 women and 450 men died from breast cancer in 2008, and an estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in women, plus 1,990 cases in men.
3. Most breast cancer patients undergo some type of surgical treatment.
4. Treatment for breast cancer varies according to type of insurance coverage and State of residence.
5. Currently, 20 States mandate minimum inpatient coverage after a patient undergoes a mastectomy.
6. Breast cancer patients have reported adverse outcomes, including infection and inadequately controlled pain, resulting from premature hospital discharge following breast cancer surgery. Source: H.R.111 11-HR111 on Jan 5, 2011

   Sponsored merging Alzheimers diagnosis and care benefit.

   Schiff co-sponsored HOPE for Alzheimer's Act

   Congressional Summary:The purpose of this Act is to increase diagnosis of Alzheimer`s disease and related dementias, leading to better care and outcomes for Americans living with Alzheimer`s disease and related dementias. Congress makes the following findings:

   1. As many as half of the estimated 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimer`s disease have never received a diagnosis.
   2. An early and documented diagnosis and access to care planning services leads to better outcomes for individuals with Alzheimer`s disease.
   3. Combining the existing Medicare benefits of a diagnostic evaluation and care planning into a single package of services would help ensure that individuals receive an appropriate diagnosis as well as critical information about the disease and available care options.

   Proponent`s argument for bill: (The Alzheimer`s Association, alz.org). The `Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer`s Act` (S.709/H.R. 1507) is one of the Alzheimer`s Association`s top federal priorities for the 113th Congress. The HOPE for Alzheimer`s Act would improve diagnosis of Alzheimer`s disease and increase access to information on care and support for newly diagnosed individuals and their families. It would also ensure that an Alzheimer`s or dementia diagnosis is documented in the individual`s medical record.

   Source: S.709/H.R. 1507 13-H1507 on Apr 11, 2013

   GOP can't beat ObamaCare, so they pretend it's a "disaster".

   Schiff voted NAY Full Repeal of ObamaCare

   Heritage Action Summary: This vote would fully repeal ObamaCare.

   Heritage Foundation recommendation to vote YES: (2/3/2015): ObamaCare creates $1.8 trillion in new health care spending and uses cuts to Medicare spending to help pay for some of it. Millions of Americans already have lost, and more likely will lose, their coverage because of ObamaCare. Many Americans have not been able to keep their doctors as insurers try to offset the added costs of ObamaCare by limiting the number of providers in their networks. In spite of the promise, the law increases the cost of health coverage.

   Secretary of Labor Robert Reich recommendation to vote NO: (robertreich.org 11/22/2013): Having failed to defeat the Affordable Care Act, Republicans are now hell-bent on destroying the ObamaCare in Americans` minds, using the word `disaster` whenever mentioning the Act, and demand its repeal. Democrats [should] meet the Republican barrage with three larger truths:

   1. The wreck of private insurance: Ours has been the only healthcare system in the world designed to avoid sick people. For-profit insurers have spent billions finding and marketing their policies to healthy people--while rejecting people with preexisting conditions, or at high risk.
   2. We could not continue with this travesty of a healthcare system: ObamaCare is a modest solution. It still relies on private insurers--merely setting minimum standards and `exchanges` where customers can compare policies.
   3. The moral imperative: Even a clunky compromise like the ACA between a national system of health insurance and a for-profit insurance market depends, fundamentally, on a social compact in which those who are healthier and richer are willing to help those who are sicker and poorer. Such a social compact defines a society.

   Legislative outcome: Passed House 239-186-8; never came to a vote in the Senate.

   Source: Congressional vote 15-H0132 on Feb 3, 2015

   Provide for treatment of autism under TRICARE.

   Schiff signed bill providing for autism treatment under TRICARE

   A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the treatment of autism under TRICARE. Revises TRICARE (a Department of Defense [DOD] managed health care program) to authorize treatment of autism spectrum disorders, if a health care professional determines that such treatment is medically necessary.

   Source: S.1169&HR.1600 2009-S1169 on Jun 3, 2009

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