Health Secretary Nominee says “Action is not a choice. It is a necessity.”

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

“We face an obesity epidemic that threatens to make our children the first generation of American children to face life expectancy shorter than our own....We now must guard against man-made as well as natural disasters, as disease has become a weapon. Perhaps most importantly, we face a health system that burdens families, businesses and government budgets with sky-rocketing costs. Action is not a choice, it is necessity,” said Governor Kathleen Sebelius at her nomination hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Senate today.

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), was back chairing his first Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing since suffering from cancer earlier last month and looked in high spirits, smiling throughout the hearing. Kennedy said, “Over the past ten months I’ve seen our health care system up close. I’ve benefited from the best of medicine, but we have too many uninsured Americans. We have sickness care and not health care.”

In less high spirits appeared to be Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who became frustrated and irritated with the answers provided on his questions regarding employer provided health insurance, McCain said, "these are pretty straightforward questions, Governor, I would think.”

During their exchange, Governor Sebelius told the committee in response to Senator McCain’s questions that she favored public insurance in addition to private insurance.

McCain asked whether she supported a government run health insurance plan, to which Governor Sebelius responded, “If you are talking about insuring all 15 million Americans...if the question is do I support a public option side-by-side with private insurers in a health insurance exchange, yes I do.”

Testifying in support of Governor Sebelius was Former Senator Bob Dole, who told the Committee she would work well with both parties. He said, “people understand that when the D’s and R’s work together it’s going to be successful.”

In closing, Governor Sebelius said, “we have by far the most expensive health system in the world. We spend 50 per cent more per person than the next most costly nation. Americans spend more on healthcare than housing or food. General Motors spends more on healthcare than steel.”

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach speaks on future of the agency

The National Press Club hosted Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to speak on the future of the FDA. He spoke highly of his agency calling it the “gold standard” for health regulation.

Eschenbach's speech followed a consistent message revolving around a single theme: change. He told the participants that developments in medicine and food production are forcing the FDA to adapt to the world's changing technologies. He said that the FDA was established a century ago to protect consumers from the dangers of ill goods but that the FDA of the 20th century is not adequate to face challenges in the 21st century posed by cloned animals, genetically modified crops, and medicines that can alter biology. In order to confront the challenges of this new age, Eschenbach said that the FDA needs to be “recreated.”

According to Eschenbach, 700 new officials will be hired as additional FDA employees in 2008 and he will soon launch a fellowship plan to recruit 2,000 people from various fields to receive FDA training. He also announced that the FDA will spend $250 million to update software systems and expand their electronic database. Additionally, he said that the FDA is planning to open up offices overseas in the near future beginning with China to regulate products before they are shipped to the U.S. In order to accomplish these goals, Eschenbach called for Congress to pass legislation granting the FDA increased authority. He also asked for the public's support and said that industries must accept strong corporate responsibility for the goods they produce.

Subcommitte on Health Hearing Debates Medical Coverage for Uninsured Children

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) chaired a House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing focused on providing affordable healthcare for uninsured children. The witness panel called into question included five governors from different regions of the country, providing the committee with a diverse group of state leaders to comment on the progress made by the Bush Administration in regard to healthcare.

The progress of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was hotly debated. The purpose of SCHIP is to provide uninsured children whose parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid with health coverage. Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS) was particularly adamant about reforming SCHIP, arguing that providing affordable coverage for children was growing increasingly more difficult as a result of state funding simply not providing enough money to finance such initiatives.

The benefits of programs such as SCHIP are evident. At the same time, as some such as Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) pointed out, the success of the program has been limited and reforming legislation is necessary to ensuring the success of future government healthcare programs. Children are not the only ones who suffer from unaffordable healthcare, Shadegg explained, as the cost of healthcare is an issue that affects all Americans.

While President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and limits in government spending have come under fire in recent months, concerns about the lack of funding for healthcare programs have grown to be an increasingly important, and controversial, issue for Americans to debate.