Senate Proceeding on Apr 23rd, 2009 :: 3:32:30 to 3:42:30
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3:32:26 to 3:32:46( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: objection, so mr. specter: and i ask that the legislatio court review of the terrorist surveillance program with a full statement as if read in full. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. specter: i thank the chair and yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr

3:32:30 to 3:42:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Blanche Lincoln

3:32:47 to 3:33:07( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: consent that the senator from arkansas be given five minutes i think as if business -- is that correct? -- and then we return to me in order to go back on to the bill. the presiding officer: without objeion. the senator from arkansas is recognized. mrs. lincoln: well, thank you, mr. president. and a very special thanks to my friend and neighbor from oklahoma. i appreciate his collegiality

3:33:08 to 3:33:29( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: and certainly his friendship. mr. president, i rise today, like many arkansans, because i'm very troubled about the rising health care costs and the barriers that many arkansas families face accessing a quality, affordable health plan. and nearly half a million arkansans are uninsured, including children.

3:33:30 to 3:33:50( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: the cost is both human and financial in terms and it's felt by everyone, mr. president. and that's why during this work period, i traveled the state on a two-week tour to take the pulse, to take the pulse of arkansans of health care in communities across our state. and i met with patients,

3:33:51 to 3:34:12( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: providers, advocacy groups, all of the other health care professionals in every corner of our state, and we discussed the challenges that they face delivering and accessing quality and affordable health care out in rural arkansas. it was a wonderful tour, very open. people were were concerned, they had good ideas and were very much

3:34:13 to 3:34:34( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: interested in being able to -- to really help us in washington move forward on this issue. i felt like the will and certainly the desire was there among arkansans to fix this problem. my clinton, arkansas, which is located in vanburen county, where 26% of their residents are uninsured and many are on

3:34:35 to 3:34:56( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: medicare or medicaid. a local pharmacist there raised concerns with the burden of paperwork, regulations, fees required by c.m.s. for pharmacists to supply medical equipment and supplies. a nurse practitioner talked about ways to fill the gaps with r primary care work force and how important it was in areas like that. ot

3:34:57 to 3:35:17( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: the need to address the preventive health needs in our state, like smoking cessation and -- and the prevention of obesity and related health conditions. next, i went to augusta, arkansas, down in our -- our row cropland, and arkansans who said high-deductible plans are not meeting their needs.

3:35:18 to 3:35:40( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: as a result, the patients often miss out on the very important primary and preventive care because they cannot afford their plans expensive copays and the deductibles and, therefore, they end up being the system without that care or primary care because they end up in more acute care situations. down in lake village, arkansas over on the eastern side of our

3:35:41 to 3:36:01( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: state, arkansans talked about the need to improve dental coverage within private insurance. and i also hrd from veterans who are forced to drive long distances to receive care and expressed the real need for more rural v.a. clinics. not only how much better quality of life it would provide them but the cost savings it could

3:36:02 to 3:36:22( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: provide as well to the v.a. and the whole implementation of health care delivery to our veterans. across the state arkansas, i spoke with a provider about the difficulty in recruiting specialists into rural arkansas. health technologies, like remote patient monitoring and mobile imaging, may hope provide

3:36:23 to 3:36:43( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: specialist access to those rural areas where it may not be efficient for each rural community to have a multitude of of -- of specialists located in their communities. at least they can serve there and provide their services with equipment that's much needed. on my final stop in springdale in northwest arkansas, close to the the oklahoma border, i

3:36:44 to 3:37:04( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: heard from seniors who have had trouble finding a provider who will accept medicare we must build our primary care work force and address reimbursement inequities for these rural areas in order to help more arkansans on medicare gain access to the care that they need. we had a long discussion about

3:37:05 to 3:37:27( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: the need for more primary care professionals, primary physicians and certainly the fact that it's not just reimbursement. it's also quality of life in these rural making sure that we can grow our own primary care physicians in these rural areas does a -- an awful lot in getting us to making sure we have providers in those areas that

3:37:28 to 3:37:48( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: can serve those individuals. in all of these places, mr. president, good arkansas neighbors working to take care of their neighbors were always present, whether it was our community health centers, which are working desperately har use the money from the recovery package to increase their ability to cover more of the uninsured, whether it w nonprofits or our

3:37:49 to 3:38:09( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: religious-based clinicshat were doing a tremendous job partnering with our hospitals keep people out of the emergency room and -- and getting some of their lab work done hospitals but still being able to provide ce in those clinics. so all in all, mr. president, it was a -- a great opportunity for me. i love traveling arkansas

3:38:10 to 3:38:30( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: anyway, visiting with the great people of arkansas, but it really showed the concerns that we talk about here in washington and you get to see them face to face. i think these stories really do help illus is for residents of arkansas and other rural areas to have easy, affordable access to health care care. and i was so grateful to meet

3:38:31 to 3:38:51( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: with so many arkansans and to be able to share theirtories with my colleagues here. and as we move forward in this debate, it difference. as acialtionz my staff was there -- as always, my staff was there because there's so many issues there, sometimes people not knowing where to go. having our staff there to be able to talk to them and help direct them in those ways is

3:38:52 to 3:39:14( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: very valuable. so rembering the educational component as we move f health care and how we make sure information is available to people is part of it. this week in the senate finance committee, we launched its first of three roundtable discussions in advance of drafting a health care reform bill, and i strongly believe that congress must craft

3:39:15 to 3:39:36( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: health reform legislation that lowers costs, improves quality and provides access to coverage for all americans. and i want to compliment chairman baucus and senator grassley for the -- the great way that they have approached this, last year having multiple hearings, coming again this year with me hearings, roundtable sessions. we had a summit last summer.

3:39:37 to 3:39:57( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: all of these things i think have been very beneficial to the debate in a very bipartisan way. and from my seat on the senate finance committee, i'm going to be working to ensure that we have guaranteed coverage for people with preexisting conditions, have continuity of coverage for people between jobs jobs, which we see oftentimes and particularly in this economic setting; maintain

3:39:58 to 3:40:18( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: affordability for people who are privately insured and have medica eligibility for every uninsured american verty. you know, mr. president, one of the things i noticed that was so positive being out there with arkansans is although they're frustrated, they're confused and they're concerned about where we're going and what we're going

3:40:19 to 3:40:39( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: to do, the will to do this now is there the american people i think feel the will that it's a must situation for us in this economy. the quality of life that we want, to do health care reform, and i feel like it near this body. we have an -- here in this body. we have an opportunity not only to do it but to do it correctly. we're very proud of the

3:40:40 to 3:41:00( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: incredible medical professionals that are here in this country, folks like my colleague from oklahoma, tremendous in his own profession as a physician. and we're proud of that, but we want to make sure that we create the greatest efficiencies for those individuals to able to provide the services that they're trained to provide at a cost that people can afford

3:41:01 to 3:41:21( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: and accessibility that leaves no one out. whether you live in a major city or in a rural area mr. president, i think this is one of the most urgent facing our nation and it's the time now is clearly for the action that we need to take is reform. so i very much appreciate the opportunity i've had to visit

3:41:22 to 3:41:42( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: with arkansans. i look forward to working with my colleagues here both in the senate finance committee in a bipartisan way to move this health -- health care reform initiative forward and also with the rest of the sen the body to come up with something that the american people will be proud of. they know it won't be a work of art necessarily but a work in progress as we move ourselves

3:41:43 to 3:42:03( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: from a health care system that has been focused on acute care into something that's certainly more focused on chronic conditions, multiple chronic conditions and making sure that we make those manageable using preventive health care and certainly the primary care that will keep us healthi

3:42:04 to 3:42:24( Edit History Discussion )

Blanche Lincoln: mr. president, i thank you and would yield the floor and quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.