[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 124 (Tuesday, October 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H8091-H8094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES
SHOULD TAKE A PROACTIVE ROLE IN PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 34) expressing the
sense of the Congress that private health insurance companies should
take a proactive role in promoting healthy lifestyles, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 34
Whereas Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy
Thompson acknowledges that $270,000,000,000 in health costs
are caused by preventable diseases, including
$183,000,000,000 for heart disease alone, and has called
current policies of insurance companies ``wrongheaded'' for
not doing more to encourage people to stay healthy to prevent
expensive illnesses;
Whereas obesity increases the risk of illness from more
than 30 medical conditions, including heart disease, cancer,
stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes,
which account for 2/3 of all deaths in the United States;
Whereas 61 percent of adults in the United States
(120,000,000 people) are above their target weight, and 13
percent of children and adolescents in the United States are
obese or overweight, a figure that has tripled since 1980;
Whereas from age 50 to 70, those who do not perform
strength training lose a quarter to a third of a pound of
muscle every year and gain the same amount in body fat;
Whereas weight training is proven to increase bone density
and reduce osteoporosis among men and women over 50 years
old;
Whereas if the more than 88,000,000 inactive adults in the
United States began regular exercise, national medical costs
would decrease by more than $76,000,000,000 each year;
Whereas on June 20, 2002, President George W. Bush launched
the Healthier US fitness initiative to promote a healthy
lifestyle and encourage people in the United States to
increase their physical fitness; and
Whereas providing incentives for exercise and strength
training would help more people become active and healthy and
would decrease national medical costs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That--
(1) the Congress commends Secretary of Health and Human
Services Tommy Thompson for his efforts to encourage private
health insurance companies to take action to encourage people
in the United States to lead active lifestyles;
(2) it is the sense of the Congress that private health
insurance companies should--
(A) do more to encourage people in the United States to
lead a healthier and more active lifestyle to prevent
expensive and painful illnesses;
(B) provide discounted premiums to those who exercise
regularly; and
(C) encourage frequent screening for diseases that are
easily treatable in their early stages; and
(3) the Congress applauds private health insurance
companies that are already taking these actions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Barton) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).
General Leave
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 34, the
bill now under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms.
McCarthy) for sponsoring this legislation. I think its basic intent,
that is, as a Nation we need to do more ourselves to promote healthy
lifestyles, is extremely sound. I know insurance companies are already
doing just that in this area.
I believe that what the insurance companies are doing is being very
constructive. I also know there are limitations on what we can
legitimately expect insurance companies to do. Individual and family
responsibility remains the key and cannot be replaced by laws and
resolutions.
Having said that, I would like to take a moment to thank my good
friend, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy), for her service
to this House and her leadership on this issue. She will be leaving us
after the conclusion of this Congress, and she will be missed. She has
been a valuable member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Her
brightness and her willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion across
the aisle have helped move numerous pieces of legislation, and we will
certainly miss her as we hopefully start the next Congress.
Today, we are here to support her as she brings this important
resolution to the floor of the House of Representatives. She has been a
tireless leader on this issue, and I think it is a fitting tribute to
her that we bring this bill to the floor. The people of the Fifth
District of Missouri should be very grateful for her service to the
country.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
Madam Speaker, I want to join the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton),
our chairman, in thanking the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy)
for her good work, not just on this legislation, but her years of
service to this Congress, and especially her years of participation on
the Committee on Energy and Commerce and her good work there on a whole
myriad of issues. I especially, as I said, want to thank her for her
work on this resolution, which encourages private health insurance
companies to take a more proactive role in promoting healthy
lifestyles.
[[Page H8092]]
The number of Americans who are overweight and obese continues to
rise. Obesity is problematic in large part because of the myriad of
health complications it can cause.
It is appropriate that health insurance companies, along with
doctors, public officials, and community leaders, encourage people in
the United States to lead healthier lifestyles. Moderate weight loss of
5 to 10 pounds can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce
high blood sugar, and help prevent other health conditions associated
especially with obesity.
Making prevention work and encouraging healthy lifestyles requires
cooperation from all parties involved in health care, including
insurance carriers, and I am pleased to support the gentlewoman's
resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).
Mr. WAMP. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for
yielding me this time, and the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy)
for her 10 years of service here in the House. I have been here the
whole time she has been here. She has grace and is decent and kind and
has done an outstanding job for her people back in Missouri.
This is a very important issue. I founded the Congressional Fitness
Caucus 2 years ago, and cochair it with the gentleman from Colorado
(Mr. Udall) for this exact same purpose, to try to encourage healthier
lifestyles all across the country, particularly with young people, but
especially here, where health insurance companies can join us and fight
the obesity epidemic. Madam Speaker, Type 2 diabetes is climbing in
this country.
The human body is made to move. People need to watch what they eat
and live healthier lives. We need to encourage it, and the entire
health care delivery system needs to kind of change its approach to
more preventive care; emphasizing maintenance, checkups, and all kinds
of ways to take better care of ourselves to lower health care costs.
There is no way Medicare and Medicaid, which are the Federal
Government's responsibilities, can sustain the trends we see today in
chronic health care problems associated with obesity. It is now on a
par with tobacco as the number one killer in America, obesity-related
illnesses. We have to get our arms around it. But I think it is going
to take changing the paradigm and the culture, and it is going to take
a national campaign.
I, too, want to commend Secretary Tommy Thompson. He got his own body
in better shape and now he is leading by example and carrying this
message. The President is probably the most fit President in the
history of our country. We all need to use our own walk to exhort the
advantages of just moderate increases in physical activity and better
diet and nutrition.
Health insurance agencies or companies stand to gain a lot from their
bottom line by promoting wellness, a holistic approach to better
living. We can all take simple steps. America on the Move is a national
program that Secretary Thompson helped start.
In Tennessee, where I am from, we are towards the bottom in terms of
health. We are in the fried chicken belt. But we have Tennessee on the
Move, which is a grass-roots effort to promote wellness and physical
activity. Again, this is going to have to be done on a variety of
fronts across the country, so that all these little fires will burn
together for a healthier America.
I cannot think of a better legacy for my colleague from Missouri to
leave than to encourage people to live a healthier life, to enjoy the
quality of life, better sleep, increased productivity in the private
sector and in all of our lives, but particularly with our children.
They need to know the consequences early on of inactivity and a
sedentary lifestyle. Get out of doors. Go play the game. Do not play it
on the video; go play it yourself. We need to encourage more physical
activity.
Again, this human body, all human bodies, were made to move. Burn
more calories and ingest fewer calories. With small, simple steps we
will not face the problems associated with obesity in the future.
Madam Speaker, this is a bipartisan effort and I thank the
gentlewoman from Missouri for leading this effort.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy).
Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of
House Concurrent Resolution 34, a sense of the Congress encouraging
health insurance companies to take a more proactive role in promoting
physical activity that prevents stroke, high blood pressure, and other
life-threatening diseases.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges that
$270 billion in health care costs are caused by preventable diseases,
including $180 billion for heart disease alone. Research by the Harvard
School of Public Health noted that the closest thing to a magic bullet
for treating this epidemic is exercise. It is estimated that if the
more than 88 million inactive adults in the United States began regular
exercise, national medical costs would decrease by more than $76
billion each year.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, two-thirds
of all deaths in the United States are caused by obesity, a disease
that increases the risk of illness for more than 30 medical conditions,
including heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, and diabetes.
{time} 1545
Sixty-one percent of American adults are above their target weight,
and 9 million school children are overweight, a figure that has tripled
since 1980. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
found that walking and bicycling among children age 5 to 15 dropped 40
percent between 1977 and 1995, and school budget constraints have led
to the suspension of physical education classes across America.
In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared
obesity the most important public health issue facing the United
States. As Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, a former director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, noted in a recent report on childhood
obesity, ``Obesity is a personal issue, but at the same time, families,
communities and corporations all are adversely affected by obesity, and
all bear responsibility for changing social norms to better promote
healthier lifestyles.'' Children and teenagers are contracting diabetes
at a rapidly increasing pace. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, one of the Nation's
foremost experts on physical activity, noted, ``We may have the first
generation in which parents will outlive their kids,'' referring to the
reduced life expectancy of children who develop diabetes before age 14.
The measure before us today expresses the sense of Congress that
health insurance companies can do more to encourage healthier, more
active lifestyles and urges them to consider incentives for those who
choose to exercise regularly. I applaud the insurance providers and
companies who already recognize the benefits of a healthy public, as
does this resolution. These insurers offer incentives for getting
active. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, for example, offers
a free Walking Works program to employees and policyholders. In
addition to helping plan a daily walking routine, Walking Works
provides discounts on walking shoes and pedometers. Cigna offers
discounts on subscriptions to health-related magazines, and Aetna
provides discounts for home exercise equipment. Kaiser Permanente and
Aetna here in Washington offer dues reductions of up to 60 percent at
more than 90 area gyms. Obese Americans who take drastic, expensive
action to lose weight under a doctor's orders are currently able to
lighten their Federal tax load.
The Surgeon General recommends daily exercise consisting of 30
minutes of walking or the equivalent, but 75 percent of Americans fail
to meet this standard. A recent Harvard study found that, among healthy
people, exercise can raise levels of HDL, known as good cholesterol,
which improves clotting factors, lowers blood pressure and decreases
inflammation. The study found that there is nothing else that has
stronger and quicker effects than physical activity for preventing
diabetes. Exercise can change virtually every tissue in the body. A
German study comparing exercise and Viagra in treating erectile
dysfunction found that an exercise regimen consisting of
[[Page H8093]]
squatting exercises and pelvic and leg lifts is more effective in
treating the condition than medication.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has called the
current policies of insurance companies ``wrongheaded'' for not doing
more to encourage people to stay healthy to prevent expensive
illnesses. H. Con. Res. 34 commends Secretary Thompson for his efforts
to promote incentives for Americans to lead an active life. Just two
weekends ago, Secretary Thompson, along with Agriculture Secretary Ann
Veneman, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Surgeon General Richard
Carmona, fanned out across our country announcing healthier U.S.
grants. The Federal funds will aid in disease prevention or management
programs, many aimed at promoting exercise, like an afterschool health
club pilot program for children at risk for asthma, diabetes and
obesity, and that is going to Philadelphia.
I would like to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) of the
Committee on Energy and Commerce for his kind remarks and help in this
effort along with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), my cosponsors from both sides of the
aisle like the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun) who spoke on behalf of
this measure earlier in the day, and more than 20 organizations
including the American Heart Association and the YMCA that support H.
Con. Res. 34. I urge the House to adopt this measure and continue
fiscally responsible policies to reduce the billions in health care
costs currently spent on preventable diseases.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to join the gentlewoman from Missouri
(Ms. McCarthy) in urging the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 34,
a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that private health
insurance companies should take a proactive role in promoting healthy
lifestyles.
Madam Speaker, we know as a society that our lifestyle choices
disproportionately account for the excess death and disease burden in
this country. Recent studies have documented that of the top 10 killers
in America, many such as heart disease, injuries, diabetes, HIV/AIDS,
strong perinatal conditions and lung diseases can be reduced or
eliminated through healthy lifestyle choices.
I want to take this opportunity to commend and thank the gentlewoman
from Missouri for introducing this important piece of legislation. As
chair of the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus, I
know that it can help my constituents, African-Americans in this
country, all people of color and all Americans who are fortunate enough
to have health insurance.
Recently, the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities
at the University of South Carolina noted that, in the 20th century,
public health advances eradicated diseases through sanitation,
immunizations, health education and advances in medical technology.
This led to enormous improvements in people's lives. However, the 21st
century has brought a new set of public health challenges which include
tobacco- and alcohol-related diseases as well as sexually transmitted
ones. We have also seen that sedentary lifestyles and diets high in
calorie-rich foods have produced a generation of Americans who are
increasingly obese. The health problems associated with weight-related
diseases are multiplying by epidemic proportions.
Madam Speaker, between 50 and 66 percent of African-American women
can be classified as being overweight. More than 2.8 million, or 13
percent of African-Americans, also have diabetes. Finally, we and other
people of color suffer disproportionately from complications and death
due to this illness. We also know that lifestyle choices relating to
poor nutrition and obesity can be associated with three of the other 10
leading causes of death, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
It is clear that we need all hands on deck to address this health
care crisis in our country. That is why I am urging my colleagues to
support House Concurrent Resolution 34 which urges private health
insurance companies to do more to encourage people in the United States
to lead a healthier and more active lifestyle to prevent expensive and
painful illness; two, to provide discounted premiums to those who
exercise regularly; and three, to encourage frequent screening for
diseases that are easily treatable in their early stages. We still have
to do more to cover everyone and to pay providers for their time spent
in counseling patients on good disease prevention and health promotion,
but, Madam Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 34 is a step in the
right direction by giving the insurance industry a stake in the fight
to eliminate health care disparities, to ensure better health for all
Americans and to reduce the skyrocketing costs of health care. I urge
my colleagues to support it.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I want to support the bill of the gentlewoman from
Missouri, but I also, as we wrap up, want to reflect on what we have
just seen on the House floor. We have just debated nine bills on
suspension that have come out of the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
and in a year in which a lot of the public thinks that all we do is
fight each other on the House floor and get enraged at each other and
confront each other, I want the country to know that there is another
side to this Congress. We can have equality and cooperation. We have
seen that today.
We have just had nine bills put on the suspension calendar. When it
goes on the suspension calendar, what it means is that the majority and
the minority both at the committee level and at the leadership level
agree to put the bill on the floor. It also means that you have to get
a two-thirds vote to pass. In the nine bills that we have just debated,
some of them are substantive bills. We have a bill that deals with
asthma that I consider to be very substantive. We had a bill that deals
with islet cell transplantation that is very substantive. We have a
reauthorization of the Mammography Quality Control Screening Act by the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) that is obviously substantive. We
have a brand new patient navigator bill that the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Towns) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) put
together. We have a bill for defibrillation that the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Brown) has authored. We have a prescription drug monitoring
bill that the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood), the gentleman from
New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
Whitfield) have worked together on in a bipartisan basis. These are
substantive bills. It shows that we can cooperate. It shows that we can
work together. We also had, it is not a health-related bill but the
spyware bill that the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono) and the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) worked on shows that, in the area
of technology, we can work together.
I hope that we showed the country that the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, the ``e'' and ``c'' does stand for equality and cooperation,
and that this is a precursor of what is to come in the next Congress. I
urge support of the McCarthy bill.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues today
to support H. Con. Res. 34 calling for private health insurance
companies to take action to encourage people in the United States to
lead active lifestyles. A report from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, CDC, shows about one in five American adults engage in
a high level of overall physical activity, including both activity at
work and during leisure time. At the other end of the spectrum, about
one in four American adults engage in little or no regular physical
activity.
Physical activity whether it is walking the dog or simply taking the
stairs at work is essential to good health. This CDC study helps give
us an even fuller picture of our physical activity status. It confirms
that we need to pay more attention to getting adequate physical
activity and reversing the alarming rise in obesity that we've
experienced nationally during the past decade.
Research has shown that people who are usually inactive can improve
their health and
[[Page H8094]]
well-being by becoming even moderately active on a regular basis, and
that physical activity need not be strenuous to achieve health
benefits.
Insurance providers need to help to promote fitness activities to
their patients. Statistics in the United States make this clear: 61
percent of adults in the United States are above their target weight,
and 13 percent of children and adolescents in the United States are
obese or overweight, a figure that has tripled since 1980. In addition
to the health consequences, the economic projections are staggering.
One study indicates that if the 88,000,000 inactive adults in the
United States began regular exercise, national medical costs would
decrease by more than $76 billion.
The government and the insurance companies need to send a clear
message that everybody benefits from improved fitness and exercise.
While the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 provides tax incentives for
taxpayers who are obese, it does not provide such incentives for those
who are active and healthy.
I believe that insurance companies should my colleagues gathered here
today to encourage people in the United States to lead a healthier and
more active lifestyle to prevent expensive and painful illnesses; to
provide discounted premiums to those who exercise regularly; and to
cover and encourage frequent screening for diseases that are easily
treatable in their early stages.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, the percentage of children and
adolescents who are defined as overweight has more than doubled since
the early 1970s with nearly 15 percent of children and adolescents now
being overweight.
Congress has asked our schools to encourage health eating and
physical activity to decrease the obesity epidemic in our Nation. We
have encouraged our physicians to educate our constituents and parents
to be better eating role models to their children. The CDC has even
stated to begin to stop and reverse this upward obesity trend ``will
require effective collaboration among government, voluntary, and
private sectors, as well as a commitment to action by individuals and
communities across the Nation''. It then only makes sense that we now
ask the insurance industry to join us in the fight to reduce obesity in
our country.
As we know, there are serious health consequences that are caused
when an individual is overweight or obese such as high blood pressure,
Type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure, stroke, as well as some
types of cancer. These can all be very costly diseases, especially if
they are not managed correctly. According to a study of national costs
attributed to both overweight and obesity, medical expenses accounted
for 9.1 percent of total U.S. medical expenditures in 1998 and may have
reached as high as $78.5 billion. Approximately half of these costs
were paid by Medicaid and Medicare.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Miller of Michigan). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con.
Res. 34, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution, as
amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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