This E-mail is Senator Schumer's answer to the letter I sent to the Senate which can be viewed at: letter to Senate

Dear Mr. Lake:

Thank you for sharing with me your concerns regarding health care and health issues in the United States. Knowing your interest, I want to share with you a legislative update of the many health care issues I have been working on during my first session in the Senate.

As you know, in 1997 Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act. The intention of this bill was to cut government spending in an effort to balance the federal budget, including shoring up payments for health care through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In that legislation we made hard choices to cut Medicare payments to hospitals. What has happened, however, is that these hospital payment cuts have had twice the effect that was originally intended. The Congressional Budget Office first estimated that the measure would save $120 billion in federal outlays over five years, however, the cuts may have gone as deep as $200 billion. In December Congress passed a bill which I fought for that restored nearly $40 Billion over the next five years and almost $80 billion through the next decade so that hospitals and health providers can properly provide care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

A top priority of mine for some time has been to pass a comprehensive prescription drug package for all Medicare beneficiaries. With the cost per prescription increasing 84 percent over the past five years, we must provide relief to seniors whose costs eat away at their hard earned savings. In the 106thCongress I cosponsored the Medicare Expansion for Needed Drugs Act of 2000, a bill which would offer a voluntary prescription drug benefit in the Medicare program. My Democratic colleagues in the Senate and I have introduced a similar bill this past month in the 107th Congress. I believe that there is widespread support across the nation to pass this legislation and I will not stop fighting for this effort until it becomes law.

Furthermore, the rapidly increasing costs of prescription drugs has grown into a crisis and long term solutions must be enacted immediately. For this reason I have introduced the Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act. This bill will finally offer consumers a real choice at the counter by clearing the most serious hurdles that generic drug companies face in bringing their products to the market. It will further foster competition in the pharmaceutical industry, save consumers millions of dollars and put an end to unnecessary waiting when these affordable generic drugs should be available today.

The Ryan White program allocates monies to states, cities and communities to fight the spread of AIDS and also helps provide drugs to combat the disease. This past year I worked hard to increase Ryan White funding by $200 million more than what had originally been proposed by either Congress or the Administration. This funding will also set aside money for counties that have seen significant increases in AIDS cases, including Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. In addition, I will support Congressional budget proposals which include funds for public information and education campaigns about AIDS. Since no foolproof vaccines or treatments are currently available, the best prospect for slowing the epidemic is to inform the public about how the disease is spread and to educate people about ways of reducing their chance of exposure.

Finally, there are few Americans and their families which have not felt the terrible effects of cancer the second leading cause of death in the country. New York ranks fourth in the nation for the highest number of lung cancer cases, second for colon cancer, second for breast cancer and second for prostate cancer. Congress established the National Program of Cancer Registries in 1992 to determine cancer patterns among various populations, monitor cancer trends over time and guide planning and evaluation of cancer control programs. In the Omnibus Bill that passed Congress in December, I fought to see that an additional $12 million was allocated for these cancer registries. This funding will help provide New York and other states with the much needed financial support and personnel to gather complete, timely and accurate data on their populations in the hopes of putting an end to cancer.

There are of course many other health issues that I will continue to keep close watch over as they develop. Thank you once again for contacting me and please do not hesitate to contact me again on this or any other matter of concern.