Democrats are working hard this week to firmly establish the link between healthcare reform and the health of small business in America.
Tomorrow, Senator Patty Murray will attend a hearing on the rising costs small business owners face in of providing healthcare for their employees.
According to the release, “The hearing will also highlight how health care reform legislation will lower costs, provide employees with portable care, and ease the burden of providing care for small businesses.”
Also tomorrow, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills will join “Small business owners from across the country for a briefing on the impact of health insurance reform on small business.”
Beginning at 9:45 (Washington state time), the briefing will be streamed live here. There will also be a simultaneous chat hosted during the event here.
Last week, Administrator Karen Mills of the Small Business Administration held a short conference call with media outlets to discuss how healthcare reform will affect small businesses in the Unites States. The only mention of healthcare came eight minutes into the call and was brief, but you can download and listen to that phone call here.
Posts Tagged ‘Kathleen Sebelius’
Democrats linking health reform and the health of small business in America
Monday, November 2nd, 2009HHS Secretary Sebelius unveils report on rural America and health insurance reform
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Senator Kay Hagan Unveil New Report on Rural America and Health Insurance Reform
Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina held a conference call to discuss a new report, More Choices, Better Coverage: Health Insurance Reform and Rural America. The report examines the health care status quo in rural communities and the importance of enacting health insurance reform. It is available online at www.HealthReform.gov.
“Americans who live in rural communities have a harder time finding the doctor they need and getting the care they deserve and their health suffers” said Sebelius. “Americans in rural communities also face some of the nation’s highest rates of obesity and high blood pressure and they struggle to get affordable health care. Reform will improve access to high quality care in rural communities and help give all Americans the stable, secure care they need.”
“People in rural North Carolina and rural America are more likely to be uninsured and have more difficulty accessing health care,” Hagan said. “Rural areas in North Carolina have a 33 percent higher mortality rate from diabetes and a 60 percent higher mortality rate from heart disease. Health care reform will improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of health care for people across rural America.
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H1N1: When Public Health Meets Public Policy
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll, 52% of Americans are worried that they, or someone close to them, will contract the H1N1 virus (a.k.a. “swine flu”) – up from 39% in August. However, only one third of Americans plan to get the H1N1 vaccine this year, and 52% of parents plan to vaccinate their children. Out of those parents who would not vaccinate their children, 53% said it is because they worry that the vaccine has not been thoroughly tested and thus it could have negative side effects.The Washington Post offers this analysis of the poll results:
The findings illustrate the dueling challenges the federal government faces in its unprecedented effort to protect Americans against the first influenza pandemic in more than four decades. Federal officials have spent at least $2 billion to buy enough vaccine to inoculate at least half the population and pledged to provide the immunization to everyone who wants it.
But vaccine production has lagged behind projections, leaving public health officials scrambling to allocate the limited doses available and frustrating some anxious parents and other people waiting to be immunized. At the same time, there is still a long way to go in federal efforts to convince people of the necessity and safety of the vaccine.
While the cases of H1N1 continue to grow, there is pressure put on the Federal Government to find a vaccination, while at the same the public wants to be assured that the vaccination has been thoroughly studied and tested enough to determine its safety and side effects. Government officials seem optimistic that there is a safe solution:
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano assured the senators that everything is being done as quickly as possible to produce and distribute antiviral drugs and vaccine.
“There will be enough vaccine for every American who wants to be vaccinated,” Sebelius said, repeating reassurances that the vaccine is safe.
Read the entire Washington Post article here.