Securing Effective and Necessary Individual Outpatient Rehabilitation Services (SENIORS) Act of 2006

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to protect the vital health insurance coverage that millions of our Nation's children receive through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As I stand here today, at least 17 States face looming Federal funding shortfalls of as much as $900 million, the cost of covering more than half a million children.

Mr. Dingell, the distinguished ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and I have worked for several weeks to craft a bill that reflects the intentions of this program when it was first created nearly ten years ago: to provide comprehensive health insurance coverage for children. Additionally, this legislation addresses an ongoing set of challenges associated with the program's block grant financing structure. I am pleased to report that Mr. Dingell and others will be introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives today.

We are introducing the Keep Children Covered Act now because it is critically important that we consider and pass this legislation before we adjourn this year. No one can dispute the success of the CHIP program in enrolling and providing coverage for more then 6 million children nationwide. In 2005, West Virginia provided coverage for more then 38,000 children, and an expansion to reach additional children is currently underway. This is quite an accomplishment. But, the ongoing success of this program depends on adequate Federal funding for all States.

It is a sad truth that persistent barriers to health care coverage have resulted in annual increases in the total number of uninsured Americans. Today, 46 million Americans are uninsured for all or most of the year. I am particularly troubled in that, in 2005, the number of uninsured children increased for the first time since the CHIP program was implemented in 1998. The number of uninsured children now stands at 8.3 million.

This is unacceptable. We have taken a significant step back in terms of covering children, and this will only get worse if the $900 million Federal funding shortfall is not immediately addressed. Children are the least expensive group to insure, and our future depends on their good health and well-being. There is clear evidence that children with consistent access to health care services are more likely to become healthy adults and successful members of our communities. Like West Virginia, a number of States have expressed their willingness to expand the CHIP program, but we must hold up our end of the bargain and supply them with the resources necessary to make these positive changes. It would be irresponsible for us to allow additional children to go without this much needed access to care. It would also run counter to the goals Congress set out when we created CHIP in 1997.

Preserving health care coverage for children is not an objective beyond our reach. Although it represents only a temporary fix of the larger funding issues facing CHIP, the bill I am introducing today will alleviate the fiscal year 2007 shortfalls and ensure that children currently enrolled in CHIP do not lose their coverage. I congratulate my colleagues on the House side, Congressmen Deal and Norwood, who introduced similar legislation at the end of last week. They understand this is something we can come together on, pass, and enact into law before Congress recesses for the elections. It is my hope that Congress will act on a bipartisan basis to more comprehensively address the long-term financial challenges facing CHIP when the program is reauthorized next year.

In the meantime, I urge my colleagues to make children's health care a priority during the limited time we have left this session. Working families depend on this program in order to access the health care services--like check-ups and prescriptions--that their children need. I hope we will not let them down. We should not.

I ask unanimous consent that the full text of this bill be printed in the Record.

I am pleased to introduce the Securing Effective and Necessary Individual Outpatient Rehabilitation Services Act, the SENIORS Act, to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries who rely on medically necessary therapy services continue to have access to the services they need. The bill would allow exceptions to therapy caps for certain medically necessary services in 2007.

An exceptions process for Medicare patients who exceed the therapy cap was authorized in legislation last year. A Medicare patient may now obtain an exception if the service is deemed medically necessary and then receive covered therapy services above the cap. The exceptions process expires at the end of this year, so Congress must extend it for the 2007 calendar year.

I started the fight to eliminate the annual cap on outpatient rehabilitation services in its entirety when I was in the House of Representatives. I brought this fight to the Senate where I introduced legislation to completely repeal the annual Medicare cap on rehabilitation therapy services. I recognize that a complete repeal is not politically or financially viable at this time. However, an extension of the exceptions process should be possible.

Action is needed to address the therapy caps this year. This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. At its heart, this issue is a patient issue. Forty-four of my Senate colleagues have joined me in legislation to repeal the therapy caps once and for all. In addition, almost 260 of members of the United States House of Representatives and more than 40 groups representing patients and providers support legislation efforts to repeal the caps or extend the current exceptions process. And, in May of this year, 47 Senators signed a letter to Senate leadership urging an extension of the exceptions process authorized in the Deficit Reduction Act beyond its current expiration of January 1, 2007.

Ensuring access to needed outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology services for Medicare beneficiaries in a fiscally responsible manner is essential. Denying access by an arbitrary cap will only shift costs as patients will delay rehabilitation, seek more costly interventions, or be admitted inpatient settings.

As a member of th1e Senate Budget Committee, I realize the serious budgetary constraints that are upon Congress. I also understand that we need to prioritize spending. I believe that extension of the exceptions process beyond 2006 should be a priority. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that senior citizens continue to have access to high-quality rehabilitation services.

I am pleased to introduce the Securing Effective and Necessary Individual Outpatient Rehabilitation Services Act, the SENIORS Act, to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries who rely on medically necessary therapy services continue to have access to the services they need. The bill would allow exceptions to therapy caps for certain medically necessary services in 2007.

An exceptions process for Medicare patients who exceed the therapy cap was authorized in legislation last year. A Medicare patient may now obtain an exception if the service is deemed medically necessary and then receive covered therapy services above the cap. The exceptions process expires at the end of this year, so Congress must extend it for the 2007 calendar year.

I started the fight to eliminate the annual cap on outpatient rehabilitation services in its entirety when I was in the House of Representatives. I brought this fight to the Senate where I introduced legislation to completely repeal the annual Medicare cap on rehabilitation therapy services. I recognize that a complete repeal is not politically or financially viable at this time. However, an extension of the exceptions process should be possible.

Action is needed to address the therapy caps this year. This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. At its heart, this issue is a patient issue. Forty-four of my Senate colleagues have joined me in legislation to repeal the therapy caps once and for all. In addition, almost 260 of members of the United States House of Representatives and more than 40 groups representing patients and providers support legislation efforts to repeal the caps or extend the current exceptions process. And, in May of this year, 47 Senators signed a letter to Senate leadership urging an extension of the exceptions process authorized in the Deficit Reduction Act beyond its current expiration of January 1, 2007.

Ensuring access to needed outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology services for Medicare beneficiaries in a fiscally responsible manner is essential. Denying access by an arbitrary cap will only shift costs as patients will delay rehabilitation, seek more costly interventions, or be admitted inpatient settings.

As a member of th1e Senate Budget Committee, I realize the serious budgetary constraints that are upon Congress. I also understand that we need to prioritize spending. I believe that extension of the exceptions process beyond 2006 should be a priority. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that senior citizens continue to have access to high-quality rehabilitation services.

Mr. President it gives me pride and pleasure to introduce revised legislation that will enable the Joint Committee on the Library to display a bust depicting Sojourner Truth in the Capitol Building.

I began this effort with legislation I introduced 2 years ago during the 108th Congress. Because my colleagues in the other body and I were not able to enact our bill that time, we return in the 109th Congress with new legislation which would direct the Joint Committee on the Library to accept the donation of a bust depicting Sojourner Truth and to display the bust in a suitable location in the Capitol. I now lay down this version of the bill that reflects bipartisan support among leaders who share the goal of honoring this important figure in our Nation's and New York State's history.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York's Hudson Valley in 1797, She moved to New York City after gaining her freedom in 1826 and by 1843 had changed her name to Sojourner Truth, traveling the country preaching for human rights. After attending the 1850 National Woman's Rights Convention, Truth made women's suffrage a focal point of her speeches, portraying women as powerful, independent figures. Her most famous speech, ``Ain't I a Woman,'' given at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in Akron, OH, has become a classic text on women's rights.

Because of her great, advocacy on behalf of women, despite all of the hardships she faced, Sojourner Truth deserves to be represented along with the suffragists depicted in the United States Capitol Building. I ask that the Senate come together and honor this visionary American for her service to our Nation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.