ADVISORYFROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANSFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 29, 2009 FC-9 | CONTACT: (202) 225-3625 |
Health Reform in the 21st Century:
A Conversation with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
House Ways and Means Chairman
Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) announced today that the Committee will hold a hearing
to welcome the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
Kathleen Sebelius. This is the fifth hearing in the series on health
reform in the 111th Congress. The hearing will take place at
10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, in the main committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building.
In view of the limited time
available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from the
invited witness only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled
for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the
Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND
The U.S. spends twice as much per person for health care as any other country in the world, and
yet continues to lag behind other countries in terms of coverage and
quality. There are nearly 46 million uninsured people in America, and millions more have inadequate coverage. The U.S. has lower life expectancy
rates than all other industrialized countries, including Japan, Germany, Australia and Switzerland. Lack of health insurance coverage, rising costs and
lower quality are intimately intertwined.
The uninsured
crisis affects cost and quality for families with coverage, as well as those
without. A recent report from the Institute of Medicine found negative
“spillover” effects that occur for people with health insurance who are in
communities with a large uninsured population. These effects for the
insured include decreased access to both primary care physicians and
specialists, strained emergency services, and less access to state-of-the-art
treatments. Widespread lack of coverage also increases health care costs for
providers, plans, and those with health insurance through cost-shifting.
President Obama has said that
health care reform is both a moral and fiscal imperative. His principles for
reform and the plan he proposed during the campaign envision a uniquely
American system that assures affordable, quality health care for all Americans.
This hearing will
be the first post-confirmation hearing before the Congress for Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
“President
Obama has shown great leadership on health care reform,” said Chairman Charles B. Rangel.
“Secretary Sebelius brings enormous expertise and wisdom to the table on these
issues, and I look forward to working closely with her on health care reform
and other health and human services issues.”
FOCUS
Health and Human Services
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will appear before the Committee to discuss the
President’s principles for health care reform.
DETAILS FOR
SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Please Note: Any person(s) and/or
organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the
appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the
informational forms. From the Committee homepage,
http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “Committee Hearings”.
Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link
entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”
Once you have followed the online instructions, complete all informational
forms and click “submit” on the final page. ATTACH your
submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting
requirements listed below, by close of business Wednesday, May 20, 2009.
Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the
U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office
Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please
call (202) 225-1721.
FORMATTING
REQUIREMENTS:
The Committee
relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As
always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion
of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission,
but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any
submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials
submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a
request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any
submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will
not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and
use by the Committee.
1. All
submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect
format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments.
Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic
submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of
whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for
printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or
paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will
be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. All submissions
must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose
behalf the witness appears. A supplemental sheet must accompany each
submission listing the name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of
each witness.
The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call
202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business
days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation
needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in
alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above. Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are
available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.
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