There are many issues related to Healthcare that Congress is looking to address with legislation.

We have identified three issues for particular focus: Infectious Diseases, Addictions, and Health Promotion. This post summarizes these three issues that the House and Senate have proposed legislation to address Healthcare issues. Go to the posts on each issue to learn more about each issue and how Congress is addressing the problems.

In the Discussion section of this post, you can ask our curators questions, make suggestions, and discuss other issues related to Healthcare not being addressed in the three focused issues.

This post on Addiction is 1 of 3 issues that US onAir curators are focusing on in the Healthcare category. 

Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behaviour that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use often alters brain function in ways that perpetuate craving, and weakens (but does not completely negate) self-control.

This phenomenon – drugs reshaping brain function – has led to an understanding of addiction as a brain disorder with a complex variety of psychosocial as well as neurobiological (and thus involuntary)[a] factors that are implicated in addiction’s development.

Classic signs of addiction include compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, preoccupation with substances or behavior, and continued use despite negative consequences.

This post on Infectious Diseases is 1 of 3 issues that US onAir curators are focusing on in the Healthcare category.

Infectious diseases or ID, also known as infectiology, is a medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of infections. An infectious diseases specialist’s practice consists of managing nosocomial (healthcare-acquired) infections or community-acquired infections. An ID specialist investigates and determines the cause of a disease (bacteria, virus, parasite, fungus or prions). Once the cause is known, an ID specialist can then run various tests to determine the best drug to treat the disease. While infectious diseases have always been around, the infectious disease specialty did not exist until the late 1900s after scientists and physicians in the 19th century paved the way with research on the sources of infectious disease and the development of vaccines.

This post on Health Promotion is 1 of 3 issues that US onAir curators are focusing on in the Healthcare category.

Public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals”. Analyzing the determinants of health of a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health. The public can be as small as a handful of people or as large as a village or an entire city; in the case of a pandemic it may encompass several continents. The concept of health takes into account physical, psychological, and social well-being.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is “Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America”.

Before the separate federal Department of Education was created in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

Mission:  Empowered with legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation’s agriculture industry, farming programs, forestry and logging, and legislation relating to nutrition, home economics, and rural development.

House Counterpart:  Committee on Agriculture

Democratic Members:
Chair Debbie Stabenow, Michigan;  Peter Welch, Vermont;  Sherrod Brown, Ohio;  Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota;  Michael Bennet, Colorado;  Kirsten Gillibrand, New York;  Tina Smith, Minnesota;  Dick Durbin, Illinois;  Cory Booker, New Jersey;  Ben Ray Luján, New Mexico;  Raphael Warnock, Georgia

Republican Members:
Ranking Member John Boozman, Arkansas;  Mitch McConnell, Kentucky;  John Hoeven, North Dakota;  Joni Ernst, Iowa;  Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi;  Mike Braun, Indiana;  Chuck Grassley, Iowa;  John Thune, South Dakota;  Deb Fischer, Nebraska;  Roger Marshall, Kansas;  Tommy Tuberville, Alabama

Featured Video: Senate Ag Committee Holds Hearing to Examine Cattle Market

Mission:  
The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Senate rules.

House counterpart: Committee on Education and Labor

Democratic Members (Majority):
Bernie Sanders, Vermont, Chair
Patty Murray, Washington
Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
Chris Murphy, Connecticut
Tim Kaine, Virginia
Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire
Tina Smith, Minnesota
Ben Ray Luján, New Mexico
John Hickenlooper, Colorado
Ed Markey, Massachusetts

Republican Members (Minority):
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana, Ranking Member
Rand Paul, Kentucky
Susan Collins, Maine
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
Mike Braun, Indiana
Roger Marshall, Kansas
Mitt Romney, Utah
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma
Ted Budd, North Carolina

Featured Video: 
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Cmte Hearing on COVID-19

Mission:  
The Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of some federal agencies, and it can recommend funding appropriations for various governmental agencies, programs, and activities, as defined by House rules.

Senate counterpart:  Committee on Agriculture 

Subcommittees:

• Commodity Markets, Digital Assets and Rural Development
• Conservation, Research and Biotechnology
• Forestry
• General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit
• Livestock, Dairy and Poultry
• Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture and Horticulture

Chair: Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania (R)
Ranking Member: David Scott, Georgia (D)

Staff Director Majority: Parish Braden
Staff Director Minority: Anne Simmons
Meeting Location: 1301 Longworth House Office Building; Washington, DC 20515 (202-225-2171)

Featured Video:  21st Century Food Systems – Aug. 3, 2021
Web Links

The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH, is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1880s and is now part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Many NIH facilities are located in Bethesda, Maryland, and other nearby suburbs of the Washington metropolitan area, with other primary facilities in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and smaller satellite facilities located around the United States. The NIH conducts its own scientific research through the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program.

As of 2013, the IRP had 1,200 principal investigators and more than 4,000 postdoctoral fellows in basic, translational, and clinical research, being the largest biomedical research institution in the world, while, as of 2003, the extramural arm provided 28% of biomedical research funding spent annually in the U.S., or about US$26.4 billion.

The NIH comprises 27 separate institutes and centers of different biomedical disciplines and is responsible for many scientific accomplishments, including the discovery of fluoride to prevent tooth decay, the use of lithium to manage bipolar disorder, and the creation of vaccines against hepatitis, Haemophilus influenzae (HIB), and human papillomavirus (HPV).

Source: Wikipedia

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.

The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. It has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. EPA enforcement powers include fines, sanctions, and other measures.

Source: Wikipedia