March 10, 2010

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on the joint announcement by Congressman David Obey, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Congressman Norm Dicks, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, that the House Appropriations Committee will not approve requests for earmarks that are directed to for-profit entities: "When Democrats assumed the majority of Congress in 2007, we pledged to place people ahead of lobbyists and the public interest before special interests. Over the last three years, we fought to replace a culture of corruption with a new direction of transparency and accountability, including earmark reforms in the last Congress." Full release.

Following President Obama's call on Congress last week to act now to pass health insurance reform, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine issued this Spanish-language video calling on Latinos to take part in the final push for health reform, reform that would benefit the Latino community. For Hispanics, health reform can't wait. One out of every three Hispanics under 65 lacks health insurance, 80 percent of Latinos stand to benefit from reform, and all Americans will benefit once insurance companies are held accountable: no more skyrocketing prices that the middle class can't afford, no more denied coverage for preexisting conditions, and families will be able to keep their children on their policies until the age of 26. Full release.

The National League of Cities President, Ronald Loveridge, mayor of Riverside, California, releases the following statement in response to the Jobs for America Act introduced today. Statistics and research demonstrating the vital need for the legislation is also included after the statement. "I would like to thank the Congressmen for their leadership in sponsoring this vitally important bill. This is a key piece of legislation that comes as cities face the worst of the economic storm, with revenues down and service needs at their highest. Our research at the National League of Cities shows the ability of cities to meet their financial needs is now in jeopardy and will most likely worsen substantially through the rest of 2010." Full release.

Following the recent release of new research showing a growing impact of social media on nonprofit event fundraising, Charity Dynamics today announced that nonprofit organizations using the company's innovative Boundless Fundraising social networking application have raised more than $15 million directly through the application since the beginning of 2009. To date, 50 charitable organizations use Boundless Fundraising to enable participants in more than 8,500 events to achieve and, in most cases, exceed their fundraising goals. Nonprofits currently using the application include American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Autism Speaks, Canadian Cancer Society, and National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Full release.

"The release of the Common Core State Standards in Language Arts for K through 12 is the first critical step in a three-part initiative to support the development of students who are college and career ready in literacy," according to Kathryn Au, president of the International Reading Association. "The good news is that the latest draft is a strong step toward building rigorous goals for student performance, but it is only the first step in a three-part program." Full release.

The SCAN Foundation released a policy options document by the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc. (CHCS) summarizing four options to integrate care for dual eligibles, the nearly 9 million seniors and adults with disabilities who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. Annual costs of caring for this population are approximately $250 billion, nearly half of all Medicaid expenditures and a quarter of all Medicare outlays, causing concerned national and state policymakers to consider creative alternatives for improving quality of care that is also cost effective. Full release.

Allan Coukell, director of the Pew Prescription Project, issued the following statement today, commenting on a hearing at the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, where Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein is expected to present testimony regarding the agency's ability to protect Americans from unsafe drugs made overseas: "Two years after dozens of Americans lost their lives to contaminated heparin, we are still not able to protect U.S. consumers from many of the risks of pharmaceuticals manufactured in foreign factories. It is time for Congress to take action to better protect health." Full release.

The American Red Cross today announced it is allocating an additional $24.4 million for Haiti earthquake relief and recovery, increasing its total commitment to date to $106.4 million. The Red Cross made its funding announcement the same day that Haitian President Rene Preval is visiting the White House to discuss the urgent need for more aid from the international community to help the island nation recover from the January 12th earthquake. Full release.

The Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation released today a report that finds that U.S. "medical schools are not doing an adequate job of facilitating student understanding of basic knowledge and the development of skills required for the provision of safe patient care." The report comes approximately 10 years after the Institute of Medicine's landmark 1999 report "To Err Is Human," which found that 98,000 Americans die unnecessarily from preventable medical errors. Full release.

The proposed federal rule to create and exchange electronic health records without patients' consent threatens Americans' health privacy, warns the Institute for Health Freedom. If adopted, the rule will provide higher federal payments to doctors and hospitals for creating and exchanging electronic health records (EHRs), and in a few years will actually penalize doctors and hospitals that do not do so. It will affect all types of patients, not just those on Medicare and Medicaid. Patients' consent is not required before their personal health information is compiled and shared electronically for many purposes. Full release.

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