Lawmakers Address Various Health Care Topics in Opinion Pieces in The Hill

• Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.): Although "the diagnosis of cancer is not the automatic death sentence that it once was" as a result of medical advances, "troubling health disparities still persist and many patients are not afforded access to ... the type of comprehensive cancer care planning that has been so effective in improving the lives of cancer patients," Capps, vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and co-chair of the House Cancer Caucus, writes in The Hill. A bill (HR 1078) proposed by Capps would reimburse oncologists who "take the extra time and care to develop comprehensive treatment summaries," she writes. "Congress needs to keep pace" with cancer research "so that cutting-edge cancer treatment can be accessed by all Americans," she adds, concluding, "Standardizing comprehensive cancer care planning will enable us to reach this goal and improve cancer survivorship for all" (Capps, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.): "America's health care system will achieve its full potential only when all Americans have their own affordable and portable health insurance plan, and all Americans are empowered to make the health care decisions that are truly best for them and their families," according to an opinion piece in The Hill by Deal. The "system can be made more affordable by encouraging competition on the basis of price and quality of care"; by "reforming the payment system to ensure providers are being paid fairly for their work"; and by bringing "personal responsibility back into health care." Deal concludes, "I encourage all Americans to continue to fight for needed reform of our health care system, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me as we create a 21st-century health care system that works for us all" (Deal, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Rep. Diane DeGette (D-Colo.): America is "experiencing a health slump due to a work force crippled by an overwhelming tide of chronic disease," and "[n]ow is the time to shift the paradigm, investing money on the front end to keep people healthy, rather than spending trillions trying to cure the nation's preventable ills," according to an opinion piece by DeGette published in The Hill. She cites a study by Trust for America's Health suggesting that "if we invested just $10 per person in creating healthier communities ... we could save $16 billion in only five years." DeGette writes, "It is also time we rethink how we score health care legislation here in Congress" because the "greatest health care debate our nation has had in 15 years has already begun," adding, "This time we need to think outside the pill box by investing in fresh solutions for healthy living" (DeGette, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Gene Dodaro: The U.S. "government faces structural deficits of staggering proportions in the coming decades" and "the principal cause is the escalating cost of health care," acting U.S. Comptroller General Dodaro writes in The Hill. The health care system "needs to provide incentives to help contain costs and greater transparency about the actual value and costs of various health care options," as well as "examine how to better define, deliver and finance health care ... both in the public and private sectors." The "challenge is for policymakers to act soon," according to Dodaro. He adds that "there is a window of opportunity to act and phase in meaningful changes that will allow providers and the public time to adjust -- but that window is shrinking" (Dodaro, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.): "Candidates and pundits alike have declared that with a new president and a new Congress, 2009 will be the year for health care reform," but "why wait ... to enact health care reform legislation that will save you money, and save lives across America?" an opinion piece by Enzi -- ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- in The Hill states. Enzi writes that his bill, called "Ten Steps to Transform Health Care in America," would "go a long way in making sure that every American has health insurance," and it would "save lives and money" through "the adoption of cutting-edge information technology." He continues, "We urgently need to act so that doctors can harness the transformative powers of information technology," concluding, "Americans shouldn't have to wait until next year to get the health care reform they need today" (Enzi, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Mike Leavitt: "As Congress takes up the subject of health [IT], it must take great care to enable accelerated progress" in achieving a system "where medical information can be privacy-protected and managed," HHS Secretary Leavitt writes in an opinion piece published in The Hill. According to Leavitt, such a system requires that health care providers have IT systems that "speak the same language -- that are 'interoperable.'" He continues that the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology provides certification that lets physicians purchasing health IT systems "know that they are on the pathway to interoperability." He writes that Congress should preserve the "flexibility of those who are working to invent new tools" -- not "try to solve all the privacy challenges of the 21st century in a health IT bill" -- and "respect the need for legitimate health care communications." He adds, "The most important thing government can do is adopt the [IT] standards ourselves" (Leavitt, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.): "We face a monumental challenge in the year ahead to provide a responsive, accessible and affordable health care system," and our "solution ... must lower costs in a manner that allows patients to be in control of their personal medical decisions," Price writes in an opinion piece published in The Hill. He adds that "growing federal intervention into health care ... has led to higher medical costs and distorted any illusion of a true health care marketplace." According to Price, legislation (HR 2626) that he has proposed would allow "patients to purchase health care coverage wherever the best plans exist and reins in the burdensome cost of defensive medicine." He concludes, "Regardless of the outcome in November, it is my hope that our approach to health reform has the proper focus -- the patient" (Price, The Hill, 7/16).
  
  
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): In order to control health care spending and improve quality in "the long term, we need to move toward a national health care program that guarantees health care to all as a right, not a privilege," Sanders writes in The Hill. There are also "short-term actions Congress can take" to "radically improve health care opportunities for tens of millions of Americans and make the current system far more cost effective," he adds. One example of such change would be an expansion of the "successful" Federally Qualified Health Centers program, Sanders writes. According to Sanders, "It's not often that we are presented such a win-win situation -- a program that meets critical needs while reducing overall health care expenditures by more than it costs." He writes, "A major expansion of the community health care program would be an important step toward" achieving "health care for all" (Sanders, The Hill, 7/16).