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Health Care
The time Senator Rockefeller spent as a young VISTA volunteer in Emmons, West Virginia, helped shape his values and his core beliefs about health care. It taught him that access to health care should be a right, not a privilege - and that no child, no senior, no West Virginian should ever be prevented from having access to a doctor or life-saving medication. As a national leader on health policy, Senator Rockefeller has fought for comprehensive health care reform that would ensure that every American, no matter where they live or how much they earn, has access to quality, affordable health care. As part of his comprehensive effort, Rockefeller understands that a strong health care system must include dignified end of life care, a vital health care safety net of Medicare and Medicaid, and a real commitment to finding cures for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. One of his signature efforts included chairing the blue-ribbon Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care Reform in the 1990s, known as the Pepper Commission. The panel developed a number of recommendations on how best to address the growing health care crisis in the country, including how to deal with the long-term care issues facing baby boomers and their parents. While efforts to achieve universal health care reform were impeded, Rockefeller seized the momentum and began to focus on an incremental approach - starting with our children. Working with a bipartisan coalition, Rockefeller played a leading role in creating the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997, which has given millions of America's low-income children - including tens of thousands in West Virginia - the chance to start out healthy in life. Rockefeller has also focused his efforts on rural populations, funding health care clinics throughout West Virginia, investing in telemedicine programs, and providing incentives to doctors and nurses to practice in traditionally underserved areas. And, Rockefeller is working on efforts to expand access to mental health services and professionals. He's a long-time supporter of efforts to bring mental health care coverage in line with traditional health insurance benefits, and he's advocated for mandatory, nationwide mental health coverage for children through the Children's Health Insurance Program. At the same time he's fighting to increase access to health care, Senator Rockefeller has worked to make health insurance coverage more affordable for small businesses by supporting efforts that would empower small businesses to pool their purchasing power to help reduce employee health care coverage costs. Strengthing Medicare and Medicaid More than forty years ago, Congress took action to provide a healthcare safety net for one of our most vulnerable populations, our seniors, by creating Medicare. Since coming to the U.S. Senate, Jay Rockefeller has fought to ensure that the Medicare Trust Fund continues to have the money it needs to meet that promise of health care for our seniors. More... Ten years ago, Senator Rockefeller helped launch one of the most important children's initiatives of the last half-century, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). More... Access to quality, affordable health care is a particular challenge in rural states like West Virginia, where Senator Rockefeller has fought to address nursing shortages, helped rural hospitals, and promoted telemedicine. More... Fighting Alzheimer's at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) was founded in Morgantown in 1999 by Senator Rockefeller and his family to help advance medical and scientific understanding of Alzheimer's and other diseases of the brain. More... Senator Rockefeller knows that the impending retirement of the baby-boom generation poses a significant challenge to our health care system. By the year 2030, there will be 72 million people aged 65 years or older in America - more than twice the number today - with those aged 85 years and older becoming the fastest growing segment of the population. More... Senator Rockefeller has consistently fought to get the VA health care system the money needed to take care of the nation's veterans. More... |
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