Jun 09 2011
Carper's Corner: The Affordable Care Act and Combating Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Medicare
Senator Carper is pleased to introduce a new question and answer feature on his blog, Carper's Corner, as a way to stay connected to folks in the First State. Every month, Senator Carper will answer a few questions from constituents in a video message posted on Carper's Corner.
Mar 17 2011
Lessons Learned From the Affordable Care Act
Yesterday one of the committees on which I serve, the Senate Finance Committee, held a hearing on the lessons learned from the first year of implementing of our comprehensive health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act. This is a welcome opportunity to take a step back and take a look at the impact of this historic legislation over the course of its first year, and specifically focus on the new law's programs to improve our health care system for all Americans, especially our seniors.
Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law last spring, I have traveled across the First State talking to my constituents about our new health care reform law. From Dover, to Wilmington, to Rehoboth, I often heard the same questions and concerns, particularly from seniors who fear that the new law will reduce their Medicare benefits.
I hope the information discussed during this hearing will help to correct some of the myths about the law and highlight the increased benefits that Americans are already experiencing as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Many Delawareans, and most Americans, are unaware of many of the law's benefits that have already gone into effect.
In particular, the Affordable Care Act contains many provisions that make health insurance more accessible, more affordable, and more dependable. For example, small businesses can receive tax credits that represent up to 35 percent of the cost of providing insurance coverage to their employers. The tax credit provides $40 billion for small companies over the next 10 years. In addition, young adults will be able to stay on their parents' insurance plans until their 26th birthday. New health insurance plans are also banned from placing lifetime limits on the amount of health insurance, so over 500,000 Delawareans and all Americans can rest assured that they will have health insurance coverage when they need it the most.
Seniors are also receiving significant new benefits in Medicare. For instance, thousands of Medicare beneficiaries in Delaware have received a one-time, tax free $250 rebate to help pay for prescriptions in the "doughnut hole" coverage gap. Moreover, seniors who now enter the Medicare Part D doughnut hole will get a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs and a 7 percent discount on generic drugs. Delaware's 140,000 Medicare beneficiaries will receive preventive services, such as screenings for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, cognitive screenings, and an annual wellness visit without having to pay copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles.
I also want to highlight the new tools the law provides to better protect tax payer dollars by curbing waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. Earlier this month my subcommittee on Federal Financial Management held a hearing the steps that have been taken through the Affordable Care Act, and other steps that could be taken to curb waste and fraud. For example, the new health care law expands the use of Recovery Audit Contractors, which has already recovered over $1 billion taxpayer dollars through a small pilot program. As part of that hearing we had Mrs. Helen Carson, a resident of New Castle, Delaware, come and share her experiences working with the Senior Medicare Patrol, an organization that works directly with seniors in Delaware to identify fraud. Clearly we've made some important progress in curbing waste, fraud, and abuse in these programs over the past year, although more remains to be done.
Nearly one year later, the Affordable Care Act clearly is a significant step forward in our effort to improve health care for all Americans, but as we all know there is no such thing as a perfect law and my colleagues and I will continue to look for ways to work with the Administration to continue to improve and strengthen our health care reform efforts. Moving forward, I will remain focused on improving our health care system, extending high quality health care to all Americans, and getting better health care outcomes while lowering costs. I urge my colleagues to continue working with me to improve the health reform law and our health care system. While the health reform law is not written in stone, today's hearing offered us another important opportunity to work with the Administration to strengthen the law and by extension, further improve our health care system. As I like to say, if it isn't perfect, make it better.
Today, I was asked to make some comments on a recent Ceres report, "New Jobs-Cleaner Air: Employment Effects under Planned Changes to EPA's Air Pollution Rules." The report demonstrates the enormous job growth potential from investments related to the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to curb air pollution and protect public health. If you haven't had a chance yet to check out this report I would highly recommend giving it a closer look. Here were some of my takeaways.
When I first read the Ceres report, the first thing that came to mind was a quote from Albert Einstein who said, "In adversity lies opportunity." Clearly, dealing with the threats posed by air pollution -- including climate change and adverse public health effects -- represent significant adversity, but it also provides us with an important opportunity. This report shows that working to achieve healthy air will result in a healthy economy. This is not new news -- our country has seen 40 years of success and benefits from the Clean Air Act.
In 1970, President Nixon signed into law historic clean air legislation -- the Clean Air Act -- that established a clean air regulatory framework to curb our deadly air pollution. This law was so successful that more than 200,000 lives were saved from 1970-1990 -- more than twice as many people than live in my current hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. In 1990, President George Herbert Walker Bush signed into law the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 -- which built upon the 1970 framework to give us the clean air laws we have today.
Lately, opponents of environmental and public health laws have tried to make the claim that the regulations put in place by the Clean Air Act and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 raised costs for consumers and hurt our economy. But the facts tell a different story. Since 1990, electricity rates have stayed constant and national gross domestic product has grown by 60 percent. At the same time, we have saved thousands of lives and ensured that our children can breathe cleaner, healthier air. For 2010 alone, clean air regulations are estimated to have saved more than 160,000 lives.
The truth is that there are a number of economic and public health benefits that are a direct result of the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to curb harmful air pollution. Over the 1990 to 2020 time period, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that our country will see more than $12 trillion in health and economic benefits -- in the form of longer lives, healthier kids, and greater workforce productivity -- because of the Clean Air Act. Put another way, the Clean Air Act benefits outweigh the costs of implementing these regulations by a 30 to 1 margin. That strikes me as a great return on our investment.
Over the years we've made great strides in reducing our nation's air pollution, but more can be done, more must be done. Many "downwind" states, like my state of Delaware, have led the way in making investments in clean energy and curbing air pollution, but a high percent of our air pollution comes from outside sources that we can't control. As a result, downwind states pay the steep economic and health costs of our upwind neighbor's pollution. Clean air regulations are needed to ensure we are good neighbors so all our children have a healthy future. Clean air regulations also ensure this nation can compete in the emerging global clean energy economy.
Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in the House and the Senate want to halt future clean air regulations. Some would have us believe that we cannot afford these regulations. That is just not true. In fact, these regulations provide opportunities for well-paying American jobs.
According to the Ceres report, upcoming clean air regulations will not only saves lives, but will create much needed jobs every year -- some 300,000 jobs annually and as many as one and a half million jobs over five years. These are American jobs in manufacturing, installing, and operating modern pollution control technology and producing clean energy -- jobs that come at a crucial time as our nation's economy continues to recover and grow. So my response to my colleagues -- is that we cannot afford DELAYS to clean air regulations.
In closing, I'd like to leave you with a quote from President Harry Truman. He said, "The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know." I ask my colleagues, and the American public, to take some time and revisit the facts in regards to the Clean Air Act. I believe once they see the facts, they will realize that moving this country forward cannot mean going backwards on clean air rules.
Dec 16 2010
Embracing the Delaware Way this Holiday Season
While Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, the Christmas season is also a very special time of year for my family and me. For us, it’s a time shared with loved ones and filled with the spirit of hope, fellowship, generosity and – usually – some terrific food. The holidays aren’t nearly as happy for a number of Delaware families, though. They have experienced hard times in the past year and too many of them continue to struggle to make ends meet, so it is especially important for us to reach out to folks less fortunate than ourselves and find ways to lend a helping hand to them this holiday season.
My staff and I know too well how much some Delawareans have suffered from the recession. They call our offices in Georgetown, Dover and Wilmington every day, and we try to help them. While I truly believe that the economy is improving, unemployment remains stubbornly high. And, although America’s economy is now creating over 100,000 new private sector jobs each month, even more need to be created if our sense of hope for a brighter future ahead is to be fully restored. Having said that, as the end of the year quickly approaches, in addition to ringing the bell at Salvation Army kettles across Delaware and lending a hand at places like the Food Bank of Delaware, I also look forward to participating in caroling and other holiday festivities up and down the First State, festivities that combine to make this time of year inspiring and meaningful. Most of all, though, I look forward to spending quality time with my family. For me, the chance to do that is the most precious gift of all.
Speaking of special occasions, I am reminded of another important tradition, one that marks a transition between the election season and the holiday season – Return Day. As you probably know, Return Day is a 220-year-old political tradition (the first one was held in 1791) that is unique to Delaware. Thousands of Delawareans gather each year in Georgetown on the Thursday after Election Day to observe and participate in the festivities, which include a parade of horse drawn carriages where the winning and losing candidates ride shoulder-to-shoulder, followed by a ceremony where local party leaders literally bury a hatchet in sand. The purpose of this one-of-a-kind state event is to foster an early return to positive working relations moving forward and to symbolize the end of the political season and return to civil discourse.
As I walked the parade route on a rainy Return Day last month in Georgetown with Rep. Mike Castle and Sen. Ted Kaufman, I couldn’t help but reflect on the significance of the “Delaware Way” and the overwhelming demonstration of it that was occurring all around us. During moments like those, I am especially grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of the First State. This year’s campaigns, in Delaware and across the nation, were said to have been some of the most negative in recent history. Yet, Delawareans still gathered together on Return Day to set their differences aside and recommit to the common goal of building a better Delaware in the year to come. In all my years of serving in elected office, I don’t believe that I have participated in a Return Day that was more necessary or heartening than this one. This year’s Return Day reconfirmed my belief that this unique tradition is one of the central reasons why Delaware works so much better than most other states.
The good will that we witnessed again this year on Return Day serves as a timely preamble for this holiday season, for Return Day embodies the same spirit of forgiveness and empathy that many of us strive to embrace through shared holiday traditions. This message of unity, civility and working together for mutual progress is one that is important to carry during the holidays and throughout the New Year. Whether it is in the form of kind words to a stranger or a fresh start for a strained relationship with a family member or friend, we would all do well to incorporate the “Delaware Way” more often into our daily lives.
Given the difficulties that our nation has faced in the last couple of years, it’s more important than ever for us to “bury the hatchet” with our adversaries, whether we find them in the political realm or within our communities and families, and turn our attention to extending a helping hand to some of the people in our own community who need it the most. In this season of exchanging gifts, the most precious gift we can give is our time to help someone – young or old – to reach their full potential in life. If we look around us, there are many opportunities to make a positive difference. In the New Year, I hope you will join my family and the members of my staff in that spirit and find the opportunities that work best for you.
With these thoughts in mind, let me close by wishing you and your family a blessed and joyous holiday. As a veteran who served three tours in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, I also want to encourage you to spread the good cheer to the men and women in uniform who are currently serving our country in places far from home. Never underestimate the incredibly positive affect that a thoughtful letter or care package has on the morale of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and women and Marines who are unable to spend the holidays at home with their families. If you would like more information about mailing letters and packages to military destinations through the U.S. Postal Service, please visit http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/.
Happy holidays! God bless!
Nov 15 2010
America Recycles Day
Since 1997, communities across our country have come together on November 15th to observe America Recycles Day and share in their commitment to recycling. I want to say thank you to all who have worked hard to make today America Recycles Day, and to those who work hard to make recycling a reality in our country every day.
As the co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus, I have been a big fan of recycling for many, many years and so this day holds a special meaning to me. This is why Senator Snowe and I introduced a resolution today commemorating America Recycles Day and the inception of a recycling program on the National Mall.
When I was a young boy growing up in Virginia, I was a Boy Scout. One of the Boy Scout mottos -- “leave no trace” -- has really stuck with me over the years. I believe that we have a responsibility to be stewards of our environment and to leave our environment in better shape than the way we found it.
In the years that I have served in public office, recycling has always been a top priority for me, and a true passion. I love recycling because it helps us preserve our limited resources, reduce our landfill input, and it also create jobs. For a small state like Delaware, recycling is particularly important because of the limited space our state has for landfills.
Today, we see that our resources –financial and natural– have been stretched, and stretched in some instances to their limits. We need solutions to managing our resources that are win-wins for our economy and our environment. Recycling is one of these win-win solutions. The recycling and remanufacturing industries account for over one million jobs in the United States and over $236 billion in annual revenue. Recycling also saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Through recycling activities alone, we can reduce the amount of harmful emissions we put into the air by as much as 5 percent!
The U.S. has made progress in recycling, but we can do a lot better. We recycle only about 33 percent of our waste, which is quite low compared with other industrialized countries. We recycle only about seven percent of our plastic and 21 percent of our glass and aluminum. In fact, we throw away enough aluminum cans every month to completely rebuild our country’s commercial air fleet. If all of us here in the U.S. increased by just 10 percent the amount that we recycled, we could conserve enough energy to heat 7.5 million homes, which would provide electricity to 2.5 million Americans, nearly three times as many residents as we have in the state of Delaware.
Today, on America Recycles Day, I invite you all to join me in making recycling a part of your daily routine. On this day, we have much to celebrate, but we also have much more work to do. And as I’ve said many times, if it isn’t perfect, make it better! Together, our small actions can have a real impact.
To learn more about America Recycles Day, visit: http://www.americarecyclesday.org
Oct 25 2010
The Scary Reality of Our Cyber Vulnerability
With Halloween right around the corner, many of us are casting about for creative costume ideas. Here’s a suggestion for a truly frightening option – try being a cyber criminal or a terrorist.
If you think cyber crime and cyber terrorism aren't real, let alone scary, think again. According to the FBI, in 2008 a wave of thieves fanned out across the globe and almost simultaneously walked off with more than $9 million within 12 hours, using cloned credit card numbers they got by hacking a major credit card company in Atlanta. Further, in 2009 Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense lost plans to America's future advanced jet fighter, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter -- one that isn't even mass-produced yet -- to suspected Chinese hackers. I’m hard pressed to think which is scarier – the cyber criminals who can hack into businesses or personal networks and steal millions or the cyber terrorists who can attack everything from power plants to military installations with a few key strokes.
Given the truly scary potential these cyber criminals and terrorists possess, it’s entirely fitting that we observe National Cybersecurity Awareness Month every October. This year marks the seventh annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month which is conducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). As part of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Stop.Think.Connect.” campaign to increase public understanding of cyber threats, this annual cybersecurity awareness campaign is designed to encourage Americans to protect their computers and our nation’s critical cyber infrastructure.
Across the country, people are working to build awareness of the importance of cybersecurity and the significant threat posed by cyber attacks. In my home state of Delaware, we recognized National Cybersecurity Awareness Month with activities designed to educate Delawareans about the importance of protecting the cyber networks that underpin everything from our bank accounts to the electricity grid and the systems we depend on for our national security. Under the theme “Cybersecurity is Our Shared Responsibility,” Delaware’s top professionals, government officials and students participated in training, simulation exercises and presentations. I am proud that Delaware continues to be a leader in teaching others about the importance of being vigilant online, not just during the month of October, but throughout the year.
As National Cybersecurity Awareness Month comes to a close, I hope this campaign’s outreach was successful in educating Delawareans and all Americans about the importance of cybersecurity and the new technological threats we face. Eventually, I hope Americans focus on this critical issue every day, not just one month out of the year.
Given the serious nature of this growing threat, we have to do more to protect our critical information networks. That’s why I will continue to work with my Congressional colleagues to pass comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, which I authored with Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.). This legislation will help provide the government and the private sector with the tools and resources they need to more effectively protect our vital cyber networks.
To learn more about National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and download free online safety tips and resources, I encourage you to visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website on Cybersecurity: Our Shared Responsibility.
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