In August, I will hold town hall meetings in Hagerstown and in Towson. For planning purposes, because of the large number of people who are interested in attending, please RSVP. Space is limited at both venues so we cannot guarantee admittance. In accordance with fire regulations, when the venues are full, there will be no standing room available.

Monday, August 10th - 7 p.m.
Towson University Center for the Arts
Harold J. Kaplan Concert Hall
Corner of Cross Campus and Osler Drives
Towson, MD 21204

Parking is available across the street from the Center for the Arts on Auburn Drive off Osler Drive on Lot 13.

RSVP - sean_mckew@cardin.senate.gov.

Wednesday, August 12th - 1 p.m.
Hagerstown Community College
Kepler Theater
11400 Robinwood Drive
Hagerstown, MD 21742

Parking is available adjacent to the theater.

RSVP - robin_summerfield@cardin.senate.gov.

August 12th: Today I held a Town Hall Meeting at Hagerstown Community College to outline the various health care proposals that are being considered by the House and the Senate. Congress is expected to consider health care reform legislation when it returns from its August recess in September.

I want to ensure that Americans are able to maintain their health coverage, but that we also must expand health care coverage to all Americans - inaction is not an option. Currently, 47 million Americans and 760,000 Marylanders have no health insurance.

We cannot afford our current health care system -- a system in which health care costs increased by 78 percent between 2001 and 2008 and in which last year we spent $2.4 trillion while failing to provide coverage to approximately 47 million Americans. Health care costs are rising much faster than wages and the top priority of any health care reform bill must be to bring down costs.

August 12th: As part of National Health Center Week, I visited the Tri-State Community Health Center to present the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with a ceremonial check for $1,221,744. The funding was included in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), which included a total of $2 billion in grants to health centers over a two-year period.

The Tri-State Community Health Center in Hancock opened 1987, and in 2007 served approximately 6,600 patients. The Tri-State Health Community Health Center has three other locations: primary care clinics in Cumberland and McConnellsburg, PA., and a women's health center in Cumberland with a total patient population of 19,500. The Hancock clinic served 1,239 uninsured patients in the past 12 months, a 5 percent increase from the previous 12 months. The center plans to use the economic recovery funds for capital improvements.

The Tri-State Health Center is one of 16 established FQHCs in Maryland that will receive more than $16 million in grants from the economic recovery package to enhance existing services to meet expanding need. The recovery package also included $155 million to establish 126 new health centers across the country. These additional centers will be able to provide access to health center care for 750,000 people in 30 states and two territories. Additionally, $338 million in Increased for Demand Services grants for health centers was also included in the economic recovery package. These centers will be able to provide care for an additional two million Americans over a two-year period.

August 10th: Today I visited Baltimore City's Healthy Start program to hear about its success in reducing low birth rates, a leading cause of infant mortality. I and Congressman Cummings also met with mothers and their babies to hear how Healthy Start has helped them and their children.

Infant mortality and low-birth weights are linked. Healthy Start has been successful in reducing infant mortality because it works with mothers in helping them understand the importance of good nutrition and health care during pregnancy. It is the success of programs like Healthy Start that we need to build on as we look at health care reform.

The infant mortality rate is an important measure of the well-being of infants, children, and pregnant women because it is associated with a variety of factors, such as maternal health, quality and access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health practices. In 2003 (most recent data available), Healthy Start clients experienced low birth weights at a rate of 8.9 percent compared to Baltimore City's overall rate of 13.8 percent.