Larry Bucshon

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Reitz Memorial High School Girls Basketball Team from Evansville, Indiana. On March 5, 2011, the Lady Tigers won the Indiana High School Athletic Association's Class 3A State Championship for the first time in school history. Today, I would like to congratulate Coach Bruce Dockery and the 16 young ladies for their success. After a regular season of 21 wins and only 1 loss, Coach Dockery led his #1 ranked team to the school's second appearance in the state finals in Fort Wayne, Indiana where it took a 58 to 50 overtime victory against #3 ranked Benton Central to bring home their first championship. I would also like to commend Coach David Baxter and his team for their exceptional season. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Lady Tigers of Reitz Memorial High School for their hard work and dedication that culminated with a record of 28 wins and 1 loss in Coach Dockery's 23rd season and their first ever Indiana High School Athletic Association's Girls Basketball Title. Memorial Lady Tigers Rachel Davidson Nicci Bland Ruth Hedrick Maggie Minnette Sarah Stone Grace Shymanski Natalie Cohlmeyer Jena Lutz Anna Hackert Marie Hackert Emily Nesbitt Mallory Ladd Head Coach: Bruce Dockery Asst. Coaches: Monica Auker, Whitney Jenkins, Thom Endress, Joan Miller Student Managers: Emily Purdue, Kelsey Falls, Jessica Durcholz

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Washington High School Boys' Basketball Team from Washington, Indiana. On March 26, 2011, the Hatchets won the Indiana High School Athletic Association's Class 3A State Championship for the second consecutive year. Today, I would like to congratulate Coach Gene Miller and the young men for their success. The #1 ranked Hatchets finished their season with a record of 24 wins and only 4 losses where they achieved a 61 to 46 victory against Culver Academies in the state finals. I would also like commend Coach Mark Galloway and his team for reaching their first ever state championship game. This was the fourth state championship since 2005 for the Hatchets, who were led by McDonald's All American Cody Zeller. Mr. Zeller was also named the winner of the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A Boys Basketball. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Hatchets of Washington High School for their hard work and dedication that culminated with their second consecutive Indiana High School Athletic Association's Boys Basketball Title. Washington Hatchets Jacob Stephens Derek Arvin Trey Garber Jaydan Hawk Dylan Ervin Kurtis Anthony Adam Lane Tyler Stoll Cody Zeller Robert Pittman Andy Garland Cullen Arnold Head Coach: Gene Miller Asst. Coaches: Brandt Schuckman, Mike Kramer, Kyle Cornelius, Scott Neidigh, Brett Matteson Student Managers: Eric Wadsworth and Eric Long

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Vincennes Rivet High School Girls' Basketball Team from Vincennes, Indiana. On March 5, 2011, the Lady Patriots won the Indiana High School Athletic Association's Class 1A State Championship for the first time in school history. Today, I would like to congratulate Coach Tim Young and the young ladies for their success. Capping off a regular season with a perfect record of 21 wins and 0 losses, Coach Young led his #1 ranked team to the school's third straight appearance in the state finals where they achieved a 49 to 40 victory against #2 ranked Turkey Run to bring home their first championship. I would also like to commend Coach Jeff Thompson and his team for their exceptional season. Coach Young constantly promoted teamwork and sportsmanship and was named the Evansville Courier & Press Southwestern Indiana Coach of the Year. His daughter, senior point guard Sarah Young, was named the all- Southwestern Indiana Player of the Year. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Lady Patriots of Vincennes Rivet High School for their hard work and dedication that culminated with their first ever Indiana High School Athletic Association's Girls Basketball Title. Rivet Lady Patriots Julia Finch, Ellie Herman, Bailey Dreiman, Lauren Herman, Casandra Brocksmith, Elizabeth Keller, Erin Wehrheim, Sara Young, Mallory Niehaus, Allyson Wehrheim, Lauren Tucker, Amber Fowler, Emily Montgomery, Emily Niehaus, Brooke Schutter, Bailey Niehaus. Head Coach: Tim Young. Asst. Coaches: Charlie Waggoner, Brent Meeks, Sheila Herman, Paula Westfall. Manager: Haley Potter. Athletic Director: Doug Ostendorf.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of Chairman Mica's manager's amendment to the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011. Indiana is the second largest producer of medical devices in the country with 20,000 jobs in this industry. There are 1,200 employees at a Boston Scientific plant in the town of Spencer, Indiana which is located in my district. These are Hoosiers who work hard every day to make components that are found in pacemakers. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, I implanted numerous pacemakers into patients that ended up saving their lives. A recent rule proposed by the Obama Administration would restrict the method in which these pacemakers are shipped across the country because of the very small lithium battery they contain. This rule is expected to cost Boston Scientific $30 million and it is a cost that will be passed onto the consumer. This is a device that is safe enough to put in the human body, but the Obama Administration does not believe that it's currently safe enough to ship across the country, specifically on an airplane. These restrictions will result in hospitals waiting longer to receive pacemakers and could put human lives in danger. There is no evidence that the transport of lithium batteries has ever lead to a fire on an aircraft. I fully support Chairman Mica's Manager's amendment which would require the shipping of lithium batteries to comply with international standards which have proven to be very safe and eliminate President Obama's proposed rule and I encourage my colleagues to support the Manager's Amendment.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Thank you, Dr. Gingrey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about how ObamaCare will hurt my State and ultimately hurt my patients. And I would like to start with an example of the Medicaid program. As a cardiothoracic surgeon in Evansville, Indiana, I see a lot of patients from neighboring States because we're right in the corner next to Illinois and Kentucky. Many of these patients are Medicaid patients and, without treatment, face grave results. However, every year the Illinois Medicaid program runs out of money in September, October. They don't have enough money to fund the entire year. And what does that mean? That means that without denying any patients care that they need and deserve, my practice was forced to delay billing to the Medicaid system of Illinois. And then once the new fiscal year came into play, about 50 percent of those claims were subsequently denied by Illinois Medicaid. So those patients that came over for our services, they don't have quality health insurance, Mr. Speaker. Some physicians in my community don't even bother to bill the Medicaid program in some States at all. This is an example of the broken Medicaid system, a system that has many issues focusing on the access to quality health care. And it was said earlier you see the outcome difference between Medicaid and private insurance patients because we have an access and quality problem with these patients, a system that ObamaCare will break even more by adding millions of Americans to the States' Medicaid rolls. It's estimated that this may cost the State of Indiana as much as $3.6 billion to cover these folks. From Indiana we have an innovative and effective solution, and that's called the Healthy Indiana Plan. Beginning in January 2008, uninsured Hoosiers between the ages of 19 and 64 started enrolling in this plan, a consumer-driven health care plan. The Healthy Indiana Plan operates on an 1115 demonstration waiver from CMS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Due to the program's success, the State of Indiana would like to use the Healthy Indiana Plan as a coverage vehicle for the newly eligible population under ObamaCare. This has been requested by my State Department of Health and Human Services, but to this point we have not heard a response about whether this will be possible. And I am hoping that we get a response in the positive direction because this is a great program. The plan is for citizens that earn less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty level and works on a sliding scale for individual contributions, based on the ability to pay, that cannot exceed more than 5 percent of his or her gross family income. Each participant is enrolled in a health savings account valued at about $1,100, and will not make copays except for non-emergency use of the emergency room. And believe it or not, this program reimburses providers at a Medicare, not Medicaid, level. This gives citizens a financial incentive to adopt healthy lifestyles and personal responsibility to make their own health care decisions. Healthy Indiana Plan is an innovative, market-based, consumer-driven plan that is working. In a recent survey, 94 percent of Healthy Indiana Plan participants are satisfied with the program, and 99 percent indicated they would re-enroll. There is data in the fact sheet that I have included in the Congressional Record showing the success of this plan both for patients and for the State of Indiana. It's a commonsense, market-based solution to a broken Medicaid system that ObamaCare does nothing to fix, but only further burdens my State, and all States, and will ultimately continue to hurt patients' access to quality health care in America. So I would urge everyone to review what the State of Indiana has done with its Healthy Indiana Plan. With that, Dr. Gingrey, I thank you. The Healthy Indiana Plan is a consumer-driven health care plan for uninsured Hoosiers between the ages of 19-64. The program began enrollment in January 2008, and operates under an 1115 demonstration waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS). During the first two years of the program, HIP served 61,797 Hoosiers. who is covered? HIP is for uninsured Hoosier adults between the ages of 19- 64. Parents or caretaker relatives of children in the Hoosier Healthwise (CHIP) program are likely candidates for HIP. Eligibility Requirements: 1. Earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). A single adult earning less than $20,000 or families of four earning less than $40,000 likely meet the basic financial requirements. 2. No access to employer sponsored health insurance coverage. 3. Uninsured for the previous six months. plan structure A POWER (Health Savings Account) Account valued at $1,100 per adult. Contributions to the account are made by the State and each participant (based on ability to pay). No participant pays more than 5% of his/her gross family income. Sliding scale for individual contributions (based on % of gross family income): 0-100% FPL: 2%; 100%-125% FPL: 3%; 125%-150% FPL: 4%; 150%-200% FPL: 4.5%-5% (Caretaker relatives/parental adults in this income bracket contribute 4.5%, and the childless adults contribute 5%). No co-pays except for non emergency use of the ED. Providers are reimbursed at Medicare, not Medicaid, rates. Plan Benefits A basic commercial benefits package, once annual medical costs exceed $1,100. Coverage for preventive services up to $500 a year at no cost to participants. Services include: physician services, prescriptions, diagnostic exams, home health services, outpatient hospital, inpatient hospital, hospice, preventive services, family planning, and case and disease management. Mental health coverage is similar to coverage for physical health, and includes substance abuse treatment, inpatient, outpatient, and drugs. HIP does not cover vision or dental. HIP also does not cover pregnancy services, as these services are available through the existing Medicaid program. Why a POWER (HSA) Account? Personal Wellness and Responsibility (POWER) Accounts give participants a financial incentive to adopt healthy behaviors that keep them out of the doctor's office. When they do seek health care, participants will seek price and quality transparency so they can make value conscious decisions. If all age and gender appropriate preventive services are completed, all (State and individual) remaining POWER Account funds will rollover to offset the following year's contribution. If preventive services are not completed, only the individual's prorated contribution (not the State's portion) to the account rolls over. Program Results & Personal Responsibility HIP members, in general, have demonstrated the personal responsibility emphasized by the program. Lower ER Use: Some HIP members do not make POWER account contributions due to CMS income-counting guidelines. HIP members required to make POWER account contributions: 9% decrease in ER use in 3 months; 15% decrease in ER use after 6 months. HIP members not required to make POWER account contributions: Initial 5% decline in ER use after 3 months; no additional decline in ER use. High Generic Drug Utilization: HIP generic drug utilization: 80%; comparable commercial population: 65%. High Use of Preventative Care: 76% of HIP members received their required annual physical in the first year of the program. Use of preventive services was significantly higher than the traditional Medicaid population in Indiana: 445.4 well care visits per 1,000 (HIP caretaker adults); 281.8 well care visits per 1,000 (HIP childless adults); 195.2 well care visits per 1,000 (Indiana Medicaid adults). Strong Personal Responsibility: 97% of members made their required POWER account contributions during program year one. Individuals can be removed from the program for failure to make POWER Account contributions within 45 days. Once removed from the program, an individual may not re-enroll for 12 months. High Member Satisfaction: 94% of HIP participants surveyed said they are satisfied with the program, and 99% of respondents indicated that they would re-enroll in the program. Impact of the Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act maintenance of effort requirements turned HIP into an entitlement program for adults. Despite funding limitations (HIP was funded through an increase in the cigarette tax), the State cannot limit the number of parental enrollees. Therefore, the State is not currently enrolling childless adults on the wait list. Due to the success of the program, the State would like to use HIP as the coverage vehicle for the newly eligible population. Indiana has asked for direction from CMS (May letter to Cindy Mann) and has not received any official guidance. The success of the program depends on its innovative market-based, consumer-driven structure. There is concern about whether or not CMS will allow the program to continue in its current form. For more information: www.HIP.in.gov.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. BUCSHON. Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of the Pence amendment that prohibits any funds from the underlying bill going to Planned Parenthood of America. I want to start with a personal story as a physician. I performed lifesaving surgery on infants as young as 22 weeks' gestation at birth. Madam Chairman, I have held these lives in my own hands. They are viable human lives at birth and, unfortunately, Planned Parenthood uses taxpayer funds to cut these lives short; tragically, sometimes within weeks of medically proven viability outside the womb. Again, I have held these lives in my hands. Abortion, of course, for any reason is wrong, but this situation I have personal experience with is particularly distressing for me because I am a physician and also I am a father of four. I want to reiterate that Planned Parenthood has received $363.2 million in taxpayer funding as of its 2009 annual report, one-third of their $1 billion income. During that same time period, Planned Parenthood-supported clinics performed over 324,000 abortions, and this is by their own accounting. Federal taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize these actions. In addition, Madam Chairman, currently in Planned Parenthood there are 11 clinics under investigation in Arizona, Ohio, Connecticut, California and Tennessee, among other States, including my own State of Indiana, where in 2008 a video showed a Planned Parenthood clinic covering up a rape of a 13-year-old girl. Can everyone see a pattern here? In total, Planned Parenthood is facing 107 criminal charges, including 23 felony charges. What they are doing is not only morally wrong, but appears to be criminally negligent. Press reports have recently said that Planned Parenthood is now mandating by 2013 that all of its regional affiliates must provide abortions. It is important to note that the amendment does not affect title X services such as breast cancer screening, HIV prevention, STD testing and other valuable health care services to women. This amendment is about abortion, in contrast to what has been said here on the House floor earlier tonight. Title X supports 4,500 community clinics throughout America that provide critical services, which I support, and I am proud of these facilities for the quality of care that they provide. Again, this amendment is about abortion. I strongly support it. I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I would like to thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) for his strong leadership on this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. I thank the gentlelady for the time, and, Mr. Speaker, I also want to briefly at the beginning comment on why we're here today. We're here today because the 111th Congress didn't do some of this work, and we have a resolution that is going to make the 112th Congress get the job done. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 72, and I'm speaking about the egregious overregulation by the current administration. One specific instance I would like to bring up to the floor occurred with Spruce Number One surface mine in southern West Virginia. I know that it is not uncommon for the EPA to veto mine permits, but this is the first time in the history that the EPA has vetoed a mining permit after it has been issued and placed into action. The portion of the Clean Water Act referenced was section 404, a requirement for commercial investment in several industries, including mining and transportation. I'm the son of a coal miner who worked in an underground coal mine for 37 years, and now I'm representing southwestern Indiana, a district rich in coal reserves; and in State of Indiana, 95 percent of our electrical energy comes from coal. Every coal mine in Indiana, except for one, is in my district. I find it very troubling that the EPA would veto a mining permit after it had been issued by the Corps of Engineers and put into operation by the mining company. The mining company had invested $250 million and was going to bring good jobs to southern West Virginia. I am troubled by this overstepping by the EPA because I am fearful that all mining companies going through the permitting process in my district are going to be at risk, even if they're granted a permit. I'm also fearful for all the industries that require section 404 permits that could have theirs retroactively vetoed and would waste private capital investment and hurt job creation. With our Nation's labor force participation rate at a 26-year low, we must end the overregulation and stop the atrocious overreaching by government agencies. We need jobs in America.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of our Nation's 40th President. Today, we honor Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the People's House, and Ronald Reagan was the people's President. President Reagan championed the individual by lowering the tax burden on America's citizens and promoting free markets, actions that resonated with me as a young college student. As a 19-year-old in 1981, it was President Reagan's optimism about our future and clear conservative message that guided me to become a Republican. What stood out the most to me about President Ronald Reagan was his conviction and steadfast leadership in pulling us out of the Cold War. I am honored to be able to stand here today on the House floor in celebration of a great leader, President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Thank you, Dr. Gingrey, for allowing me this time. Mr. Speaker, I was proud to vote for the repeal bill of health care today because, as a practicing physician for 15 years, I know that the government approach to health care reform is the wrong approach. It was said earlier tonight: Why aren't Republicans focusing on jobs? I would hold, Mr. Speaker, that this is a jobs bill today. The health care bill, the ObamaCare bill, is a job destroyer. I held roundtables for large and small businesses throughout my district, and I never heard any of the things I heard earlier tonight in this Chamber. What I heard is it is preventing them from expanding business; it is preventing them from starting new businesses, and some businesses are very worried that they may no longer be in business. So this is a jobs bill. The other thing I would like to comment on is the physicians' support for this bill. It was said earlier tonight in this Chamber that physicians across the country support this bill. Well, the organizations that have been discussed, the last time I looked, represent less than 20 percent of the physicians in the United States. In actual fact, most national special medical societies were against the bill. So this is a gross overrepresentation of national physicians' support for the ObamaCare bill. The President had a group of physicians at the White House in white coats saying that physicians are behind this bill, but he brought in a group of physicians who are known people who are proponents of single payer health care. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say again that this is a jobs bill. This will hurt jobs in America. The last thing I would like to say related to being a physician: What are we going to do about physician shortages in this country? This bill is going to make that worse. How can we convince young people, like my son who is a senior in high school, to go into medicine when they are looking at no significant financial way to become a primary care doctor in this country going forward with this ObamaCare in place? I want young people to love medicine, to go into medicine, to keep us in strong supply of physicians. But, Mr. Speaker, unless we do repeal this bill and replace it with things that we know that work as a private sector solution, that is not going to happen.

Mr. BUCSHON

Mr. BUCSHON. Thank you, Chairman Kline. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. I consider this one of the most crucial votes in this Congress. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, I can speak from the perspective of a physician who has dealt with the growing need for health care reform in our country. We all know there are too many uninsured; too many underinsured. But a government solution is the wrong approach. This law does nothing to address the critical issue in health care today, and that's the rising cost of health care. Now let's touch on my patients. Sixty to 70 percent of my patients are in Medicare. A $500 billion cut in the funding of Medicare and decreasing reimbursement for physicians, for hospitals and other providers over the course of time will lead to what it has led to in every other country that has a government health care system--rationing of health care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, our American seniors.

Mr. BUCSHON. Thank you.