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Rep. Wolf Says Entitlement Programs Could Affect U.S. Bond Rating
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Friday in a letter to President Obama said that the U.S. could lose its triple-A bond rating if Congress does not act quickly to overhaul U.S. entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and reduce federal debt, the AP/Detroit News reports.Several lawmakers in Congress over the past two years have introduced bills to create a bipartisan task force to address the growing costs and potential insolvency of entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Wolf is a co-author of one such bill (HR 1557). A federal report issued earlier this month found that the trust fund Medicare uses to pay for beneficiaries" hospital care will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than previously predicted.According to the legislation, the task force would be responsible for developing a "grand bargain" package of recommendations to Congress on tax increases and benefits related to the entitlement programs. However, the task force has been opposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), several top congressional committee leaders and White House aides who said that other priorities, such as a health care system overhaul, need to be addressed first.Wolf said, "The fact that the leadership has been opposed to it has been a problem," adding, "There"s an economic tsunami off the coast and it"s ready to wipe us out." David Walker, president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said that currently the potential for the task force is not good but that it should improve as the economy recovers and Congress can offer more attention to the plan (Raum, AP/Detroit News, 5/24). Opinion Pieces

First Multidisciplinary Center For The Treatment Of Asthma Opens In The Midwest
Rush University Medical Center has opened the first multidisciplinary center in the Midwest for the treatment of asthma, addressing a chronic respiratory disease that affects 22 million Americans, including 6 million children.
News of the day
Health Care Experts Examine Top Performing, Low Cost Communities
Talk about health care reform efforts has focused largely on all that is wrong with the current system. In contrast, an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., examined best practices in ten top performing communities where they spend less and have better quality of care.
Mental Health

House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY10 Funding Measure

The House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee "unanimously approved its FY10 funding measure without any amendments" on Wednesday, "deferring expected fights for the full committee markup in a week," CongressDaily reports. The bill provides "increased funding for additional department and USAID employees," according to Congress Daily. After brief discussions about whether the $48.8 billion package represented a decrease or a substantial increase over current funding for foreign operations, the "unnumbered appropriations bill was reported to the full committee on a voice vote," the publication reports. According to Congress Daily, "The bill is $3.2 billion less than President Obama"s budget request for $52.04 billion." The bill would provide tight oversight of foreign affairs funding, including $146.5 million for State Department and USAID inspector generals, according to State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, (D-NY) and subcommittee ranking member Representative Kay Granger, (R-Texas) (Kreisher, CongressDaily, 6/17). A statement from Lowey"s office said the bill provides "a total of $5.7 billion for global HIV/AIDS activities, which is $100 million above the President"s request, and $200 million above the FY 2009 enacted level." According to Lowey, the amount includes $700 million for the Global Fund. Additionally, the bill includes funding for voluntary family planning services, which Lowey said was a "priority" of the committee, as well as $75 million "to address pandemic preparedness and response" (Congresswoman Nita Lowey release, 6/17). A press release from the organization Health GAP writes that the markup indicates that the U.S. is going to "fall far short of its commitment to fund fully its fair share" of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria"s re needs (Health GAP/PR Newswire, 6/17). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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