The White House released a Statement of Administration Policy in strong support of the bill yesterday saying it “is an important step forward in comprehensively reforming the way Medicare pays physicians to provide the very best care to the Nation’s Medicare beneficiaries and the Administration urges the Congress to pass this legislation.”

The bill is supported by a wide range of organizations representing patients, doctors and other providers, including the American Medical Association, AARP, the Military Officers Association of America, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, the Medicare Rights Center, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

Despite the wide support, many Republicans have said that they will vote against the bill. Today, the American Medical Association (AMA) sent a letter to Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) – a staunch opponent of the bill. In the letter, the AMA points out that legislation on the House floor today “is the same policy supported by every Republican on the Ways and Means Committee,” including Camp, who voted in favor earlier this year. From the letter:

We are disappointed, however, that you and your colleagues do not support the bill. As you know, the SGR was put into place by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which originated in your committee. At that time, the AMA wrote numerous letters to Speaker Gingrich and your committee leadership warning that limiting growth in physician services to GDP would inevitably lead to sharp cuts in physician reimbursement and a crisis in access to care for our nation’s seniors.

…

This should not be a partisan issue. Both sides of the aisle have professed a desire to permanently address this issue. The opportunity to advance permanent reform through passage of H.R. 3961 cannot be missed. We urge all members to vote for H.R. 3961.

In addition, Republicans have been calling this bill a “budget gimmick.” The AMA says no:

As for the implication that the recent action by the Administration to remove drugs from the SGR are ‘budget gimmicks to hide the true deficit impact,’ we are reminded of a letter you signed on May 21, 2004, to the Bush administration calling the policy of including drugs in the formula ‘our greatest concern’ regarding the magnitude of the SGR problem. That letter was also signed by other members of your committee. On June 16, 2004, Representative Cantor sent a similar letter with Representative Pryce urging that CMS ‘remove prescription drug expenditures from the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) determination.’

Watch the debate live on CSPAN»

Learn more about the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act»

UPDATE: The House passed the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act by a vote of 243-183. Speaker Pelosi on passage:

Strengthening Medicare for generations to come is essential to our efforts to reforming health care for all Americans. This legislation will permanently improve the way Medicare pays physicians and in doing so, guarantee that America’s seniors will continue to have access to excellent care through Medicare.

This legislation is a top priority for seniors and was endorsed by the AARP and the American Medical Association because it protects seniors’ access to their doctor, promotes primary care, and offers incentives for doctors to provide patients with higher quality and more efficient care. Today’s vote by the House keeps our promise to strengthen Medicare, never weaken it.

As this legislation heads to the Senate, the statutory ‘pay as you go’ budget bill will be added to ensure that we put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility and begin to bring down the deep deficits that face our nation.

DEFICIT REDUCTION

According to the latest CBO analysis of deficit reduction, the House bill reduces the deficit by $139 billion in the first 10 years, and by as much as $650 billion in the second 10 years.

According to the latest CBO analysis of deficit reduction, the Senate bill reduces the deficit by $130 billion in the first 10 years, and by about $650 billion in the second 10 years.

COVERAGE

The House bill covers 36 million currently uninsured Americans.

The Senate bill covers 31 million currently uninsured Americans.

EFFECTIVE DATES

Under the House bill, major coverage provisions go into effect in 2013.

Under the Senate bill, major coverage provisions go into effect in 2014.

SENIORS

The House bill fully closes the prescription drug donut hole for seniors.

The Senate bill does not fully close the prescription drug donut hole for seniors.

MIDDLE CLASS AFFORDABILITY

The House bill lowers premiums and cost sharing for the middle class through 25 percent more generous affordability credits for the average person going into the Exchange.

PROMOTING COMPETITION & THE PUBLIC OPTION

The House bill offers a public health insurance option nationwide to promote competition.

The Senate bill also contains a public option but allows states to opt-out.

The House bill eliminates the health insurance company anti-trust exemption.

The Senate bill does not eliminate the health insurance company anti-trust exemption.

EMPLOYER-SPONSORED INSURANCE COVERAGE

The House bill increases enrollment in private employer-provided coverage by 6 million Americans.

The Senate bill reduces employer-sponsored coverage by 5 million Americans. (These individuals will go into the Exchange because their employers dropped coverage.)

PAYING FOR REFORM

The House and Senate bills take different approaches on paying for reform. The House bill includes a surcharge on income above $500,000 for an individual and $1 million for couples. Payfors in the House bill are strongly supported by the American people–a new AP poll found 57 percent support a surcharge on those earning more than $250,000 per year to help pay for health care.

You can learn more about the House health reform bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and its key provisions from what’s in it for you to the top 14 provisions that take effect immediately at speaker.gov/HealthReform or with the following links:

Legislative Text and Summaries

Complete Bill Text (.pdf) »
Complete Bill Text (.html) »
Manager’s Amendment »
Manager’s Amendment Summary »
Top Line Changes »
Top 10 Changes to the Health Insurance Reform Bill »
4 Page Bill Summary »
10 Page Bill Summary »
Side by Side Chart of H.R. 3200 and the Affordable Health Care For America Act »
Section by Section »

What’s In It For You?

What Health Insurance Reform Means for You »(Brochure)
A Guide for Seniors »
Young Americans »
Women Have the Most to Gain »
Meeting Women’s Health Care Needs »
Children »
Small Business Guide »
How Health Insurance Reform Helps Small Businesses »
Rural Communities »
Health Care Disparities »
Indian Health »
Problems That Would Be Solved By Health Insurance Reform »

Overview

What You Need to Know About Health Insurance Reform »
Supporters of the Affordable Health Care for America Act »
Top 14 Provisions That Take Effect Immediately »
Top 10 Ways Health Insurance Reform Works for You »
Myths vs. Facts »
The Cost of Inaction »
Health Care by the Numbers »
Impact of Health Insurance Reform in Congressional Districts »
Immediate Investments on the Road to Reform »
Implementation Timeline »
Pocket Card»

Fact Sheets - Health Reform at a Glance

Public Health Insurance Option »
The Health Insurance Marketplace »
Shared Responsibility »
Guaranteed Benefits »
Making Coverage Affordable »
Consumer Protections and Insurance Market Reforms »
Employers and Health Reform »
Strengthening the Nation’s Health Workforce »
Lowering Health Care Costs »
Prevention and Wellness »
Delivery System Reforms »
Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse »
Strengthening Medicare »
Improving Medicare Part D Drug Program »
Closing the “Donut Hole” »
Maintaining and Improving Medicaid »
Medicare Advantage »
Health Care Surcharge and Households »
Health Care Surcharge and Small Businesses »
Paying for Reform »
Summary of Revenue Provisions »
Joint Committee on Taxation: Estimated Revenue Effects »

Around the Web

Get breaking updates on Twitter at twitter.com/healthreformnow »
Visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HealthReform »
Energy and Commerce Committee »
Ways and Means Committee »
Education and Labor Committee »

[The House health insurance reform bill] does not change the problem with our health care system, which is the fee-for-service system, which has been driving up costs for decade after decade.

And an NPR story this week reported it as if fact:

The absence of clear measures to rein in costs is being seized on by opponents of the legislation.

MYTH: The House health insurance reform bill fails to control health care costs and to reward quality over quantity of care.

FACT: The Affordable Health Care for America Act includes numerous provisions to control health care costs, including provisions to begin to reform the current fee-for-service system – moving us away from rewarding providers for the quantity of care to rewarding them for quality and value. As an editorial in the New York Times explained:

The fundamental fix — reshaping how care is delivered and how doctors are paid in a wasteful, dysfunctional system — is likely to be achieved only through trial and error and incremental gains.

The good news is that the bill just approved by the House and a bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee would implement or test many reforms that should help slow the rise in medical costs over the long term. As a report in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded, “Pretty much every proposed innovation found in the health policy literature these days is encapsulated in these measures.”

Here are just a few of the provisions in the bill to reform the current fee-for-service system in order to promote quality and value in health care – thereby lowering overall costs:

Institute of Medicine Recommendations on Promoting High-Value Health Care. Under the bill, the Institute of Medicine, through two studies, will make recommendations to Congress on how to fix the current Medicare reimbursement system. The first study will analyze and make recommendations regarding the geographic adjustment factors in the Medicare reimbursement formula. The second study, which contains the most far-reaching reforms, will provide recommendations on changing the Medicare payment system to reward value and quality – not volume. This study would define value as the efficient delivery of high-quality, evidence-based, patient-centered care. This Institute of Medicine study, containing these recommendations, must be submitted to Congress by April 2011. These recommendations will go into effect unless the House and Senate pass a joint resolution of disapproval, subject to a Presidential veto.

Promoting Accountable Care Organizations. An “accountable care organization” is an organized group of physicians who are rewarded for providing high quality care at low cost over a sustained period of time. The bill requires HHS to establish a comprehensive pilot program for Accountable Care Organizations and also requires HHS to set specific benchmarks for the expansion of the pilot program. If the pilot proves successful, HHS is directed to expand the pilot on a large-scale basis.

Promoting Payment Bundling. Hospital and physician incentives can be restructured by paying a lump sum for an episode of care (“bundling”) payments, rather than paying separately for each service provided. The bill directs HHS to establish pilot programs to test the effectiveness of payment bundling across the nation in a wide array of settings. Under the bill, successful arrangements could be expanded nationwide without further legislation.

Reducing Hospital Readmissions. The bill uses new financial incentives to encourage hospitals and post-acute providers to undertake reforms to reduce preventable readmissions, which will improve care for beneficiaries and rein in unnecessary health care spending.

Promoting Patient-Centered “Medical Home” Model. The bill requires HHS to create a pilot program that reimburses providers who give comprehensive care coordination to patients with chronic illnesses, and requires HHS to set specific benchmarks for expansion of the pilot program. If the pilot proves successful, HHS is directed to expand the pilot on a large-scale basis.

Creating Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. The bill establishes a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to empower the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to pursue additional payment and delivery system reforms.

The bill includes numerous other provisions that also help control health care costs. For example, there are a broad range of provisions to achieve Medicare savings — targeting inefficiencies and waste in Medicare. In fact, the bill will reduce the average annual rate of growth of Medicare spending from 6.6 percent under current law to 5.3 percent over the next 10 years. Furthermore, the Medicare savings in the House bill grow over time – growing 25 percent per year in the 2016-2019 period. An overview of some of these other provisions:

Productivity Savings. The bill reduces the rate of growth in annual Medicare payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers by amounts comparable to the productivity savings routinely made in other industries with the help of new technologies and new ways to organize work.

Negotiating Drug Prices. The bill requires the Secretary of HHS to negotiate the prices of prescription drugs with drug companies on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. Based on the experience of other countries, this will lead to lower drug prices for our seniors and people with disabilities.

Promoting Market Competition. Currently, in many regions of the country, there is little competition in the health insurance market – with one or two insurers dominating the market. The bill establishes a Health Insurance Exchange, a transparent marketplace, for the millions of Americans without access to affordable employer-sponsored insurance and for small businesses. The Exchange would demand accountability from insurers and set up a competitive system that would pressure insurers to lower premiums. All the insurance plans would have to provide standard benefit packages that would be easy to compare for consumers. To get access to millions of new customers, insurers would have a strong incentive to sell on the Exchange. And the head-to-head competition could give them a strong incentive to lower their prices.

Promoting Primary Care. Primary care providers can provide lower cost and higher quality, more personalized care for many ailments. Despite their critical function, primary care doctors are undervalued in our current system, leading to a shortage. The bill includes numerous provisions to promote primary care, including increasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to primary care doctors and providing incentives for the training of more primary care doctors.

Investing in Prevention and Wellness. Today, our health care system focuses on treating sickness, instead of promoting wellness. Focusing on prevention will save money by allowing patients and doctors to detect and address health problems early when they are easier and less expensive to treat. The bill includes numerous provisions to invest in prevention and wellness, including eliminating patient co-pays for preventive services in Medicare, Medicaid, and private plans; and investing $34 billion over the next 10 years in new prevention and wellness programs.

Administrative Simplification. The bill will simplify the paperwork burden that adds tremendous costs and hassles for patients, providers, and businesses today. Any doctor who has wrestled with multiple forms from different insurers knows that simplified insurance forms will save money. The bill requires standardized insurance forms in order to facilitate automated processing. This step alone could save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Cracking Down on Waste, Fraud and Abuse. The bill includes several new tools for combating waste, fraud and abuse within the entire health care system. For example, within Medicare, new authorities are provided to allow for pre-enrollment screening of providers and suppliers, to permit designation of certain areas as being at elevated risk of fraud to put in place enhanced oversight, and to establish compliance programs for providers and suppliers.

Sunshine on Price Gouging. The bill discourages excessive price increases by health insurance companies through providing for review and disclosure of insurance rate increases and the rationale for such increases.

Removing the Anti-Trust Exemption for Insurers. The bill also promotes competition among health insurers by removing the anti-trust exemption so that it no longer shields these insurers from fixing prices, dividing up territories, or monopolizing their market.

As Congress’ foremost scholar on the Constitution, Senator Byrd has used the legislative process to advance the common good. He has spoken truth to power when needed, stood on principle when no one else would, and knew when to compromise when the time came.

I offer my congratulations to Senator Byrd on reaching such an extraordinary milestone today. His name will forever remain etched in the history books for his exceptional accomplishment and courage. For nearly 57 years, he has worked tirelessly for the good of our great nation, while never forgetting the people back home in West Virginia. Long may his voice continue to provide inspiration for all Members of Congress and the American people.

As Americans are losing coverage, struggling with higher premiums, and facing greater out-of-pocket costs, the New York Times reports the pharmaceutical industry “has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years”:

In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

The drug trend is distinctly at odds with the direction of the Consumer Price Index, which has fallen by 1.3 percent in the last year.

Though one industry spokesman told the New York Times “price adjustments for our products have no connection to health care reform,” Harvard health economist Joseph Newhouse explained “they try to maximize their profits.” In fact, pharmaceutical manufacturers used the same tactic before the start of the Medicare Part D program in 2006, raising drug prices dramatically in anticipation of gaining millions of new insured customers. While Americans currently see little protection from high drug prices, the Affordable Health Care for America Act will create new protections for consumers and taxpayers from these rapid price increases–from closing the Medicare Part D ‘donut hole’ to adding transparency in drug pricing. Learn more about the provisions:

PROTECTIONS FOR CONSUMERS AGAINST RAPID DRUG PRICE INCREASES

Closes the Part D donut hole. H.R. 3962 closes the Part D donut hole by $500 in 2010 and eliminates the donut hole entirely by 2019. This protects seniors by ending the gaps in coverage that force them to pay the full cost of their drugs.

Provides insurance coverage for the 36 million Americans who would otherwise be uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that 36 million uninsured Americans will receive coverage under H.R. 3962 through their employer, a plan in the Health Insurance Exchange, or Medicaid. This insurance will cover much of the cost of prescription drugs. Plans in the Exchange are encouraged to use flat copayments, rather than charge enrollees a percentage of the drug cost (coinsurance).

HHS Secretary drug price negotiations. H.R. 3962 requires that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) negotiate with Part D manufacturers for lower prices, providing new leverage to help control Part D drug price increases. The Secretary will also negotiate for lower drug prices in the new public health insurance option offered through the Exchange.

Transparency in drug pricing. H.R. 3692 requires new transparency in drug pricing for plans in the Exchange that use pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs). This will reduce waste, fraud, and abuse and give patients more information about drug prices and spending.

Encourages use of generic drugs. For patients who are able to switch to lower-cost generic drugs, H.R. 3962 clarifies that Part D plans can offer a free generic prescription fill when a Part D enrollee switches to the generic.

PROTECTIONS FOR TAXPAYERS AGAINST RAPID DRUG PRICE INCREASES

Medicaid rebates include inflation protection. H.R. 3692 expands and increases the Medicaid drug rebate, which requires that manufacturers pay a rebate to cover cost increases that exceed the inflation rate. These payments will protect taxpayers from price increases that occur before or after the health care reform legislation goes into effect.

New Medicare Part D rebates. H.R. 3692 also contains new Part D rebates that help cut the cost of providing drugs for dually eligible and low-income enrollees. These Part D rebates are based on the Medicaid rebates. They will save taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

A new web site launched today, ScienceWorksForUs.org, shows how Recovery Act funds have made their way into academic laboratories across the country and the scientific research that has been made possible by the legislation. Learn more about what’s happening in your state:

Speaker Pelosi’s remarks as prepared:

First, I want to thank Congressman Rush Holt. A physics researcher before running for office, Congressman Holt helped ensure that the Recovery Act included a robust investment in scientific research. As co-chair of the R&D Caucus, he organized last year’s Princeton Roundtable. As a former educator, he is leading the drive for excellence in math and science for our students, helping establish TEACH grants to open college doors to young people committed to teaching science and math after graduation.

As chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, Bart Gordon is a leading voice on innovation in Congress. He authored the American COMPETES Act to improve math and science education, increase our investment in scientific research, and help our country achieve energy independence.

Robert Shelton, the President of University of Arizona, has led Arizona to its ranking among the top public research universities nationwide. Its researchers in areas such as optics, water, and astronomy set the standard around the world. The university is raising up the next generation of great American scientists and paving the way for innovation and cutting-edge research.

Science Works for Us is leading the way in tracking our achievements in science and lighting the way to a greater commitment to research. The web site ScienceWorksForUs.org – which highlights the way Recovery Act funds have made their way into academic laboratories – reflects what’s possible when smart investments in the public sector are placed in the hands of our scientists, innovators, and academies of higher learning. This initiative is built on a simple fact of our history: innovation rests at the heart of American success and leadership.

From the scientific community to university campuses to the halls of Congress, all Americans are heirs to a tradition of innovation – a legacy that brought us radio and television, phone lines and the internet; a history that took us to the moon and laid the foundation for a clean energy future. As President Kennedy said ‘The vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we are first, and therefore, we intend to be first. Our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort.’

This legacy brought us together one year ago in Princeton: to renew our national commitment to basic scientific research; to continue our national conversation about the centrality of research, technology, and innovation to our economic recovery and long-term growth. Under Congressman Holt’s leadership, that meeting ignited a spark of creativity for our recover efforts.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was designed to both stimulate the economy and transform it. The bill included the largest funding boost for research in history, $3 billion for the National Science Foundation to expand employment opportunities, improve facilities, and bolster math and science instruction, $2 billion for the Department of Energy for basic research and laboratory improvements, $360 million for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology to help improve research science buildings at our universities, $220 million for research fellowships, equipment and competitive grants. These funds supported research at more than 140 universities and facilities nationwide, and created good-paying jobs in the process.

The commitments of the Recovery Act are central to our ‘Innovation Agenda’ – policies that understand that our competitiveness relies on a sustained financial and intellectual investment in innovation. This strategy led us to accelerate funding for basic research, create the next generation of advanced research entities like ARPA-E, pass the American COMPETES Act to provide the legislative framework for these commitments. As the Science Works for Us website will show, that investment is paying off across the country.

Science Works for Us is setting the stage for the next great chapter of American innovation. Through this web site and our ongoing support for researchers across the country, we will ensure that the Recovery Act was not the end of our investment in innovation, but the beginning of a sustained commitment to science. Working with all of our partners, we know we can build on our legacy of scientific achievement and open new doors to the technologies of tomorrow.

The revealing details from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce email as reported by the Washington Post:

The e-mail, written by the Chamber’s senior health policy manager and obtained by The Washington Post, proposes spending $50,000 to hire a “respected economist” to study the impact of health-care legislation, which is expected to come to the Senate floor this week, would have on jobs and the economy.

Step two, according to the e-mail, appears to assume the outcome of the economic review: “The economist will then circulate a sign-on letter to hundreds of other economists saying that the bill will kill jobs and hurt the economy. We will then be able to use this open letter to produce advertisements, and as a powerful lobbying and grass-roots document.”

The House bill is good for businesses and working Americans. Without reform, America’s small businesses – the number one job creators in our country – would lose out if health reform was stopped:

Without reform small businesses would pay nearly $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years in health care costs for their workers, according to a report by the Small Business Majority. With reform, small businesses can save as much as $855 billion – money that can be reinvested in their businesses to grow the economy.

MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber testified that “under reform workers in small businesses will see an increase in their take-home pay of almost $30 billion/year, and that reform would save about 80,000 jobs in the small business sector by 2019.

And reform doesn’t just help small businesses — last week, the Business Roundtable, representing the CEOs of the nation’s largest companies, reported that reform could save large employers up to $3,000 per employee within 10 years.

We’ve done this myth before, but here we go again:

MYTH: H.R. 3962 harms small businesses by raising taxes and making them cover workers.

FACT: Both claims are wrong. Insurance costs for small businesses have increased 129% since 2000 and right now small business employees pay an average of 18% more in premiums than those in large firms for the same benefits (and their deductibles are more than double). The House bill is good for small businesses and for working Americans – health insurance reform means access to affordable, large-group rates in their health insurance policies and insurance plans with better benefits, and eliminating discriminatory rating practices–and assistance in providing coverage.

According to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the surcharge would not affect 98.8% of all small businesses. Only 1.2% of the wealthiest Americans with any income from a sole proprietorship, a partnership or an s corporation would be affected by the health care surcharge. The 1.2% wealthiest small business owners will only be subject to the health care surcharge on dollars earned above $1 million for a couple and $500,000 for an individual.

Approximately 86 percent of all businesses are exempt from the shared responsibility requirement to cover or contribute to coverage for their workers and family members – all small businesses with payrolls up to $500,000. Those small businesses with payrolls up to $750,000 pay only a graduated fee for not meeting the shared responsibility requirement. Those businesses that are subject to the requirement or that choose to offer coverage will have access to the insurance reforms and other consumer protections, transparency and lower administrative costs in the Exchange to make coverage more affordable and meaningful for everyone. Additionally, the bill provides a tax credit to small businesses over a two-year period to help them transition to or continue providing health benefits to their employees – paying up to 50% of their costs based on size and average wages.

Learn more about how health reform helps small businesses>>

“This survey demonstrates what we’ve been hearing from our members for a long time,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President. “Despite an inflammatory debate on a very personal and important issue, our members—across party and ideological lines—support health care reform that protects Medicare, lowers the price of prescription drugs, increases their access to coverage and protects their choice of doctors.”

“The bill recently passed by the House incorporates the reforms that our members care most about,” said LeaMond.

Key findings:

AARP members supported the legislation by more than a 2-1 (63%-30%) margin. More than half of self-described independents indicated support for the plan.

Strong majorities of AARP members support key provisions in the Affordable Health Care for America Act including:

78 percent support ensuring Americans can keep their current coverage

77 percent support improving coverage for critical preventive services like cancer screenings

76 percent support ensuring Americans can see the doctor of their choice

75 percent support stopping insurance companies from denying coverage because of a person’s health history

69 percent support closing the gap in Medicare’s prescription drug coverage known as the doughnut hole

68 percent support limiting insurers from charging much higher premiums because of age

While the House Republican substitute proposal did not address these concerns, and all but one House Republican voted against the Affordable Health Care for America Act that did include these key reforms, majorities of self-identified Republicans support key reform elements in the Affordable Health Care for America Act including:

66 percent support stopping discrimination because of pre-existing conditions

64 percent support covering routine preventive care

64 percent support allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices

Read the full survey>>

In Congress, we are doing everything in our power to meet the needs of our veterans and better serve the men and women of our armed forces. In just the past month, the House passed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, finally ensuring sufficient, timely funding for veterans’ health care by approving the funds one year in advance, giving the VA the tools and resources to plan for the future. This builds on our unprecedented commitment to strengthening quality health care for more than 5 million veterans – with the largest increase in the history of the VA.

In 2008, the New Direction Congress passed the New GI Bill, restoring the promise of a full, four-year college education for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, to help make them part of the economic recovery. In just the first few months, nearly 300,000 veterans signed up for these college benefits; and this year, we expanded these critical keys to college to all children of service members who have died on active duty since 9/11.

On this Veterans Day, the prayers and condolences of the entire country rest with the victims of the horrible attack at Fort Hood and with their families. This was an unspeakable tragedy for the families, soldiers, civilians, and support staff on the base. The heroes of that day – the civilians, military police, and service members who cared for their comrades and stopped the shooter – represent some of the best in America. Today, we honor them alongside all of the brave veterans of our nation’s history.

All of our work in Congress is founded on a solemn promise: just as the military pledges to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield, we will leave no veteran behind when they come home. On Veterans Day, let us honor their deeds, recount their stories, take inspiration from their actions, and hold up their success and service as a true tribute to our nation’s strength.