CONGRESSWOMAN
Carolyn McCarthy
Health Care Accomplishments - 106th
Congress
FIGHTING FOR WHISTLEBLOWER
PROTECTION FOR NURSES
- As a nurse, Congresswoman McCarthy
understands the need for whistleblower protections in the workplace. She knows
that a health care professional's first priority is patient health. If a
patient's health is put in danger by negligence, health care professionals
need to feel they can speak out for the patient's sake.
Because of her commitment to this issue, Congresswoman
McCarthy first drafted Whistleblower protection legislation for health care
reform bills that came before her Education and Workforce committee. Due to
partisan politics, she was not allowed to offer her legislation in committee.
Never one to be deterred, Congresswoman McCarthy worked in a bipartisan manner
with other Members of Congress to draft H.R. 2723, the Bipartisan Consensus
Managed Care Improvement Act of 1999.
It was during the drafting of this bill that the
Congresswoman insisted her whistle-blower legislation be included in the bill.
It was because of Representative McCarthy's diligent work that the measure was
not only put in the original bill, but stayed in during final passage on the
floor of the House of Representatives in October 1999.
PROTECTIONS FOR HEALTH CARE
WORKERS
- Congresswoman McCarthy knows that a nurse's
best tools are ones that make it possible to help patients get better and
prevent the health care professional from being harmed. It is because of her
extensive nursing experience that Representative McCarthy supports H.R. 1899,
the Health Care Worker Needlestick Prevention Act. This bill requires the
Secretary of Labor to issue regulations to eliminate or minimize the
significant risk of needlestick injury to workers.
LONG ISLAND PRESCRIPTION DRUG
STUDY
Congresswoman McCarthy is fighting hard to make
prescription drugs more affordable. In 1999, Congresswoman McCarthy's
Prescription Drug study proved that Long Island seniors are forced to pay twice
as much for their drugs than drug companies' favored buyers. Because of this
obscene disparity in prices, Representative McCarthy is a proud supporter of the
Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act. This bill will protect seniors from
drug-price discrimination, making needed medicine available to Medicare patients
at reduced prices.
HMO REFORM
- As the mother of a child who was critically
wounded, Representative McCarthy knows all too well that insurance companies
have taken control of our nation's Health care system. This is why McCarthy
fully supports returning the decision-making process to doctors. In the first
session of 106th Congress, McCarthy supported H.R. 358, the Patients' Bill of
Rights Act, which protects consumers in managed-care plans and other health
coverage.
- She also backed H.R. 1304, the Quality Health
Care Coalition Act of 1999, which ensures continued patient safety and quality
of care by making anti-trust laws apply to negotiations between groups of
Health care professionals and health plans and health-insurance issuers in the
same way they apply to collective bargaining by labor organizations under
National Labor Relations Act.
Since these two bills remained stalled in their
respective committees, the Education and Workforce Committee produced its own
health care bill. Congresswoman McCarthy fought with her colleagues to
incorporate the provisions of H.R.358 and 1304 into the bill. Unfortunately,
they were unsuccessful. As a result, Representative McCarthy decided to work
with a bipartisan group of members and draft a new bill that was a fair
compromise on the issue.
- As an original supporter of the H.R. 2723,
the Bipartisan Consensus Managed Care Improvement Act of 1999, Representative
McCarthy was able to ensure that most of her concerns -- like direct access to
OB/GYNs, whistle-blower protections and Health care insurance company
accountability -- were cornerstones of the bill. H.R. 2723 passed the House in
October 1999.
PROTECTING NEW YORK HOSPITALS
"Fixing" the overly drastic funding cuts for New
York teaching hospitals included in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act has been a top
priority for Congresswoman McCarthy. She has helped lead the New York delegation
over the last two years in the fight to restore financial support for New York
hospitals that provide Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs and health care
for a Disproportionate Share (DSH) of the poor and uninsured of New York.
Restoring GME and DSH funding under the Medicare
program has been Representative McCarthy's most consistent request of the
Clinton administration and congressional leaders. On a monthly basis, she has
worked with and encouraged national leaders in the health care funding fight to
protect New York's hospitals.
Congresswoman McCarthy's efforts were rewarded
in the 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which contained most of her requests to
help New York hospitals. The Congresswoman knows that more needs to be done for
our teaching hospitals, however. She is committed to continuing the fight to
protect our teaching hospitals.
DEFEATING BREAST
CANCER
Congresswoman McCarthy is a strong voice in
Congress for breast cancer prevention and treatment in this country. She has
testified about the alarming rate of breast cancer on Long Island and worked to
secure funding for breast-cancer research projects on Long Island through the
National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Congresswoman McCarthy supports and is working
hard to defeat breast cancer. Because of this dedication, she is pushing for the
passage of the following legislation:
HR 116, the Minimum Hospital Stay for
Mastectomies, which ensures that individual and group health insurance
conglomerates provide coverage for a minimal hospital stay for mastectomies and
other breast cancer treatments;
H.R. 383, the Women's Health and Cancer Rights
Act, which requires health plans to provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay
for mastectomies and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer.
It also mandates coverage for secondary consultations;
H.R 547, the Taxpayers' Cancer Research Funding
Act of 1999, which will amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide a checkoff
box for breast cancer research;
H.R.1070, which provides medical assistance for
certain women screened and found to have breast or cervical cancer under a
federally funded screening program;
H.R. 1596, the Consumer Involvement in Breast
Cancer Research Act, which promotes increased involvement of advocates in
decision-making at the National Cancer Institute.
PROTECTING PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES
- Congresswoman McCarthy knows that many people
with disabilities on Long Island want to work but are afraid of losing their
Medicaid insurance. This is why she worked hard to help pass H.R. 1180, the
Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Act of 1999. This bill extends the federal
health-insurance benefits for workers with disabilities once they return to
the workforce.
Government studies
estimate that there are 54 million disabled adults in the United States, and
currently, the unemployment rate among working-age adults with disabilities is
over 70 percent. McCarthy is committed to removing the obstacles keeping these
adults out of the work force. Consequently, she is extremely proud that this
landmark bill became law in 1999.
- In addition, Congresswoman McCarthy is a
proud supporter of H.R. 353, the Medicare Coverage for Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS) Act. This bill waives the 24-month waiting period for Medicare
coverage of individuals disabled with ALS and provides Medicare coverage of
drugs used for treatment of ALS.
PROTECTING WOMEN AND CHILDREN'S
HEALTH
Throughout her career as a nurse, Congresswoman
McCarthy has seen the hardships new parents
experience when a child is born with a congenital or
development deformity. It is this experience that guides her in her support of
the H.R. 49, Treatment of Children's Deformities Act. This bill requires
group and individual health-insurance programs to provide coverage for treatment
of congenital or developmental deformity in children.
Congresswoman McCarthy knows ensuring the health
of our children is one of society's top priorities. With that in mind, she
supports legislation such as:
- H.R.997, the Advancement in Pediatric Autism
Research Act. This bill provides for the expansion, intensification and
coordination of the activities of the National Institutes of Health with
respect to autism;
- H.R. 274, the ASSURE Act. This measure
provides surveillance and research to better understand the prevalence and
pattern of autism and other pervasive developmental disabilities;
- H.R. 2538, the Folic Acid Promotion and Birth
Defects Prevention Act of 1999. This bill amends the Public Health Service Act
to provide for a national folic-acid education program to prevent birth
defects.
- In addition to her support of these important
programs, Representative McCarthy has written to the House Appropriations
Chairman on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, expressing
support for the NYU School of Medicine's $2 million pediatric oncology
program.
- Because women's health care is one of her top
priorities, Congresswoman McCarthy is supporting H.R.889, the Robin Danielson
Act, which establishes a program for the collection and analysis of data on
toxic shock syndrome.
- She is also backing H.R. 890, the Tampon
Safety and Research Act, which provides for research to determine the extent
to which the presence of dioxin, synthetic fibers and other additives in
tampons and similar products pose any risks to the health of women, including
risks relating to cervical cancer, endometriosis, infertility, ovarian cancer,
breast cancer, immune system deficiencies, pelvic inflammatory disease and
toxic shock syndrome.
- In addition, Congresswoman McCarthy believes
that many insurances companies are unfair in the coverage they provide women.
She is a proud supporter of H.R. 2120, the Equity in Prescription Insurance
and Contraceptive Coverage Act of 1999. This bill requires equitable coverage
of prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, and contraceptive services
under health plans.
PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Representative McCarthy is deeply concerned with
ensuring that those who require mental-health or substance-abuse treatment get
the care they need. To this end, she supports H.R. 1515, the Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Parity Amendments of 1999. This bill prohibits group and
individual health plans from imposing treatment limitations or financial
requirements on the coverage of mental-health benefits and on the coverage of
substance abuse if similar limitations are not imposed on medical and surgical
benefits.
- She also supports H.R. 2445, the Mental
Health Parity Enhancement Act of 1999, which clarifies the application of the
mental-health parity provisions to annual and lifetime visit or benefit
limits.
PROTECTING SENIORS
Congresswoman McCarthy is committed to finding a
cure for and preventing the onset of osteoporosis. It is because of this
commitment that she is a strong supporter of the following legislation:
- H.R. 2471, the Public Health Osteoporosis
Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Act of 1999, which provides for screenings,
referrals and education regarding osteoporosis.
- H.R. 2294, the Osteoporosis Education and
Prevention Act of 1999, which amends the Older Americans Act to help prevent
Osteoporosis
- H.R. 925, The Osteoporosis Early Detection
and Prevention Act, which requires group and individual health-insurance
companies to provide coverage for qualified individuals for bone mass
measurement (bone density testing) as a means of preventing fractures
associated with osteoporosis;
- In addition, the Congresswoman supports H.R.
1109, the Outpatient Drugs Act, which provides coverage of outpatient
prescription drugs under part b of the Medicare Program. She also backs H.R.
1115, the Immunosuppressive Drugs Act, which eliminates the time limitation on
benefits for immunosuppressive drugs under the Medicare Program.
- Finally, Congresswoman McCarthy is fighting
hard to help adult children take care of their dependent parents.
Representative McCarthy has witnessed the devastation that can take place --
both emotionally and financially -- when an adult children must care for their
dependent parents. It is because of her commitment to this issue that she is a
strong supporter of H.R. 2096, the Federal Family Health Coverage Act of 1999,
which makes available to federal employees the option of obtaining
health-benefits coverage for dependent parents.
FIGHTING HIV AND AIDS-RELATED
ILLNESSES
Congresswoman McCarthy is committed to finding a
cure for AIDS. This commitment is why she is a proud supporter of H.R. 2405, the
Comprehensive HIV Prevention Act of 1999, which promotes programs for the
prevention of additional cases of infection with HIV.
FIGHTING COLORECTAL
CANCER
Congresswoman McCarthy has been shocked by the
prevalence of this Colorectal cancer. She is a strong supporter of H.R. 1816,
the Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act of 1999, which requires coverage for
Colorectal cancer screenings.