Medicare is a government national health insurance program in the United States, begun in 1965 under the Social Security Administration (SSA) and now administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

It primarily provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older, but also for some younger people with disability status as determined by the SSA, including people with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

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The Medicare category has related posts on government agencies and departments and  committees and their Chairs.

Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing an expansion of Medicare to cover the costs of an in-home aide for many seniors, a direct pitch to the “sandwich generation” of adults caring for aging parents in addition to their own children.

The plan, dubbed “Medicare at Home,” focuses on having Medicare cover costs of home care services and nurses as a way for families to help avoid costs of nursing homes. Harris is pairing it with a plan she’s already announced that would expand the child care tax credit to up to $3,600, and $6,000 for parents with newborns.

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).

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

Mission:  The committee focuses on matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery; deposit of public moneys; general revenue sharing; health programs under the Social Security Act (notably Medicare and Medicaid) and health programs financed by a specific tax or trust fund; national social security; reciprocal trade agreements; tariff and import quotas, and related matters thereto; and the transportation of dutiable goods.

House counterpart: Ways and Means Committee

Democratic Members (Minority):
Ron Wyden, Oregon, Ranking Member
Maria Cantwell, Washington
Michael Bennet, Colorado
Mark Warner, Virginia
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island
Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire
Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
Bernie Sanders, Vermont
Ben Luján, New Mexico
Raphael Warnock, Georgia
Peter Welch, Vermont

Republican Members (Majority):
Mike Crapo, Idaho, Chair
Chuck Grassley, Iowa
John Cornyn, Texas
John Thune, South Dakota
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
James Lankford, Oklahoma
Steve Daines, Montana
Todd Young, Indiana
John Barrasso, Wyoming
Ron Johnson, Wisconsin
Thom Tillis, North Carolina
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
Roger Marshall, Kansas

Featured Video: 
Senate Finance Committee holds hearing on tax fraud

Current Position: US Senator since 1997
Affiliation: Democrat
Other Positions: Chair, Committee on Finance;
Chair, Subcommittee on Water and Power – Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Former Position: US Representative from 1981 – 1996

He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1974, but has never been a member of the Oregon State Bar.

While teaching gerontology at several Oregon universities, Wyden founded the Oregon chapter of the Gray Panthers, which he led from 1974 to 1980. He was also the director of the Oregon Legal Services Center for Elderly, a nonprofit law service. From 1977 to 1979 he served on the Oregon State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators.

Quotes: 
This is wonky, but it’s a big deal: in Republicans’ 2017 tax law they included something called a pass-through deduction. Over 61% of benefits from this provision go to the top 1%. I introduced a bill to end this giveaway to the ultra-wealthy and help true small businesses.

Sen. Ron Wyden talks on Senate Floor after mob infiltrates capitol

Current Position: US Senator since 1999
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: US Representative for ID-02 from 1993 – 1999
Other Positions:  
Ranking Member, Committee on Finance

He practiced law in his home city throughout the 1980s, while also maintaining an active role in local Republican politics. His brother Terry Crapo was majority leader in the Idaho House of Representatives from 1968 to 1972 and an influential political figure until his death from leukemia in 1982.

Quotes:
A new analysis by the non-partisan @jctgov shows how few taxpayers will meaningfully benefit from the bill recently approved by the House Ways and Means Committee, and that taxpayers across all income levels will face a tax increase under the bill. Sept. 24, 2021

Senator Mike Crapo speaks with Lou Dobbs on Fox Business News

The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The Committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other programs including Social Security, unemployment benefits, Medicare, the enforcement of child support laws, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and foster care and adoption programs.

Subcommittees:

• Health
• Oversight
• Select Revenue Measures
• Social Security
• Trade
• Worker and Family Support

Chair: Jason T. Smith, Missouri
Ranking Member: Richard Neal, Massachusetts

Majority Staff Director: Patrick Dumas
Minority Staff Director: Brandon Casey
Meeting Location: 1139 Longworth HOB, Washington D.C. 20515; (202) 225-3625

Featured Video: Oversight Subcommittee Hearing on Expanding Housing Access to All Americans – July 14, 2021
Web Links

Current Position:  US Representative of MO District 8 since 2013
Affiliation: Republican
Positions:  Chair, Joint Committee on Taxation; Chair, Ways and Means Committee
District: 30 counties, covering just under 20,000 square miles of southeastern and southern Missouri.
Upcoming Election:

Jason Smith served four full terms and one partial term in the Missouri House of Representatives, serving as the Majority Whip during the 96th Missouri General Assembly and as Speaker Pro Tem during the 97th Missouri General Assembly.

After passing the Missouri Bar in 2004, Smith practiced law at a local law firm in Cuba, Missouri. He also took over his family’s farm, just outside Salem, which has been in Smith’s family for four generations. At this time, he was a co-owner of a dog breeding business which his mother operated.

Current Position: US Representative of MA House District 1 since 1989
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Position: Mayor Springfield from 1983 – 1989
Other Positions:  Committee on Ways and Means; Joint Committee on Taxation
District:  western and central part of Massachusetts,  includes the cities of Springfield, West Springfield, Pittsfield, Holyoke, Agawam, Chicopee and Westfield.   
Upcoming Election:

Neal chaired the House Ways and Means Committee from 2019 to 2023 and chaired the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. He has also dedicated much of his career to U.S.–Ireland relations and maintaining American involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process,. Early in his career Neal taught history at Cathedral High School.

Featured Quote: 
In the first #200Days, @HouseDemocrats have taken decisive action to crush the coronavirus and defeat the economic crisis – including by passing the life-saving #AmericanRescuePlan, which put shots in arms, workers back in jobs, money in pockets and children back in school!

Congressman Richard Neal chats about his new position as House Ways and Means Committee chairman

The Committee on Energy and Commerce serves as the principal guide for the House in matters relating to the promotion of commerce and to the public’s health and marketplace interests, with the relatively recent addition of energy considerations among them.

Senate counterparts: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Subcommittees:

•  Communications and Technology
• Energy, Climate and Grid Security
• Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals
• Health
• Innovation, Data and Commerce
• Oversight and Investigations

Chair: Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington (R)
Ranking Member: Frank Pallone, New Jersey (D)

Majority Staff Director: N/A
Minority Staff Director: N/A
Meeting Location:

Featured Video: 
Disinformation Nation: Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation – March 25, 2021

Current Position: US Representative of NJ District 6 since 1981
Affiliation: Democrat
District:   includes the northern and eastern portions of Middlesex County and the coastal areas of Monmouth County, including towns along the Raritan Bay
Upcoming Election:

The 6th district, numbered as the 3rd district from 1988 to 1993, is in the north-central part of the state and includes New Brunswick, Woodbridge Township, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, Edison, Piscataway and Asbury Park. Pallone is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Before being elected to the House, he was a member of the Long Branch City Council from 1982 to 1988.