[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 172 (Wednesday, December 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2262]]
           THE HEALTH CARE SAFETY NET IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. FRED UPTON

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 11, 2001

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Health Care 
Safety Net Improvement Act of 2001. This legislation reauthorizes the 
Consolidated Health Centers program, the National Health Service Corps, 
and several programs vital to access to care in rural America. It also 
provides statutory authority for and direction to the Health Resources 
and Services Administration's Office for the Advancement of Telehealth 
and provides for a study on overcoming the barriers that many migrant 
farm workers and their families experience in seeking health care 
services as they move from state to state. Taken together, these 
programs and activities will help to strengthen our nation's health 
care delivery system by improving access to care and quality of care in 
our rural and inner-city medically underserved communities.
  Health centers are located in 3,000 rural and urban communities 
throughout the country and provide quality primary and preventive 
health services to over 10 million low-income and uninsured patients. 
With the number of uninsured in this nation growing by more than 
100,000 per month, it is estimated that 53 million people will lack 
health insurance by 2007. Health centers have played and will continue 
to play a vital role in addressing this serious problem.
  We are fortunate in my Southwest Michigan district to have two strong 
networks of community and migrant health centers providing care to over 
40,000 people. These centers and the people they serve benefit greatly 
from the doctors and dentists who are participating in the National 
Health Service Corps Loan Repayment program.
  As Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Telecommunications 
and the Internet Subcommittee and a senior member of its Health 
Subcommittee, I have been particularly interested in the role that 
rapidly emerging telehealth technologies can play in increasing access 
to care and quality of care in rural and inner-city America. I was 
pleased to work with my colleagues on the Committee to include 
provisions in the Health Care Safety Net Improvement Act formally 
authorizing the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT). The OAT 
is currently the focal point for the telehealth activities and programs 
across federal agencies. It was instrumental in the formation of the 
Joint Working Group on telemedicine, for which it provides both 
leadership and staffing.
  One of the greatest barriers to recruiting physicians to our rural 
communities is the sense of isolation they may feel in their practices. 
Telehealth services can address that barrier by linking rural primary 
care physicians and their patients with specialists in major medical 
centers across the nation. Further, one of the looming threats to 
access to care and quality of care is the growing shortage of nurses, 
pharmacists, and clinical laboratory personnel. Telehealth services can 
address this problem by bringing education and training programs right 
into local communities.
  I hope everyone will join me today in strongly supporting the Health 
Care Safety Net Improvement Act. This bipartisan, thoughtful and 
innovative legislation will improve access to care and quality of care 
for millions in urban and rural America.

                          ____________________