Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6469) to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize increased Federal funding for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I would urge support of this resolution for an increased commitment to prevention in public health, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1381) expressing the sense of the House that there should be an increased Federal commitment prioritizing prevention and public health for all people in the United States, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1014) to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases in women, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2994) to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to pain care, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I would urge passage of this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6908, the Health Insurance Source of Injury Clarification Act of 2008. This bill would prohibit health insurers from restricting or denying benefits to plan participants if they are injured while engaging in legal recreational activities like riding a motorcycle, skiing, snowmobiling or horseback riding unless such restrictions were made explicitly clear by the plan to the person before he or she enrolled. Mr. Speaker, this change is necessary because of a 2001 rule that was issued in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. While that 1996 rule prohibits employer health plans and insurers from denying coverage to individuals who engage in legal recreational activities, the rule ironically allows the denial of health care benefits for injuries sustained while participating in such recreational activities. If I could explain that again, you can't deny coverage, but you can deny benefits, which obviously makes no sense. Accordingly, the rule in its current form will allow insurance companies to treat health care benefits coverage arbitrarily and capriciously. Under the current rule, a plan could for example deny coverage for someone who has broken an arm through skiing or riding a motorcycle but would cover someone who sustained a similar injury from drinking and driving. What is worse is that a person might not even know that their health care coverage was even subject to such limitations until after they were actually injured. So, Mr. Speaker, this is an important consumer protection for millions of Americans who participate in recreational activities every day by providing greater transparency for plan participants. When we enacted the rule in 1996, we did not intend that people would be allowed to purchase health insurance only to find out after the fact that they had no coverage for an injury resulting from a common recreational activity. This bill simply clarifies that point. I want to thank Mr. Stupak and Dr. Burgess who have worked very hard on this legislation. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support its adoption. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1760) to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to the Healthy Start Initiative.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 393) supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month''.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, I would urge passage of this resolution relative to underage drinking, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time to close very briefly. I cannot stress enough how important this legislation is. We obviously need to put an end to the drive-through mastectomy. And although it may be the case that they have been eliminated in a number of States, they have not been nationally. I would urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud now to yield 5 minutes to the sponsor of the legislation, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), who really has worked for so many years championing this cause.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2008, introduced by my good friend and colleague from Connecticut, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and I know she's been working long and hard on this legislation. I am very pleased that we're bringing it up this evening. This legislation is very important. It would provide protections for women across America who suffer from breast cancer. Under the bill, doctors, in consultation with their patients, would decide the length of time the patient should remain in the hospital after having a mastectomy and other types of related procedures, and not the insurance company. This legislation does not mandate hospitalization, but instead, restores the right of patients to consult with their physicians and decide how long she should be hospitalized, based on medical appropriateness. Presently, 20 States have implemented minimum stay requirements to varying degrees. As a result, some people may question why this legislation is necessary. This bill is not for the women who live in States or have insurance policies that provide these protections. It is for the women who do not. For these women, a Federal remedy is their only hope. Having access to appropriate medical care should not be dependent on the State that you live in. Mr. Speaker, for the thousands of American women diagnosed with breast cancer each year, this bill would help put an end to what has come to be known as drive-through mastectomies. In addition, the bill clarifies existing law on when a health insurer can or cannot issue a decision of non-renewal, discontinue or rescind a health insurance policy. The bill would also create a new consumer protection by setting up a new independent review process for consumers in the individual health insurance market in the event of a non- renewal, discontinuation or rescission of a health insurance policy. Insurers would be required to continue coverage under such policy until completion of the independent review. Once again, I want to thank my colleagues who have worked so hard on both of these bills, particularly Ms. DeLauro, the bill's sponsor; and I also want to thank the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Dingell, who championed this cause during the patient's bill of rights debate, which some may remember--I certainly do. I also want to thank our friends in the minority, particularly Mr. Barton and Mr. Deal, for working across party lines to strengthen this bill. This is a very important bill, Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this bill would allow those individuals and families struggling to cope with the diverse array of mental illnesses to have greater access to affordable care. We can't delay any longer. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the passage of this important legislation which will ensure access to equitable health coverage for the millions of American who suffer from mental illness.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).