Jonathan Cohn reports for the Huffington Post on Bernie Sanders’ move to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee. Under Sanders’ leadership, the HELP Committee will have several new priorities.
Sanders has been a senator from Vermont for 17 years. Before that, he served as a Congressman in the House of Representatives for 13 years. And, he started his political career as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont.
Sanders was able to focus significant attention on the need for Medicare for all in the US beginning with his run for president in 2016. As of now, Sanders does not intend to make Medicare for all a top priority for the HELP Committee because most Senators do not yet support it.
Committing additional funding to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or “community health centers” is one Sanders priority for the HELP committee. FQHCs provide primary care at low cost throughout the nation to some 30 million people. They are run by the government and physicians employed by the government.
FQHCs serve primarily lower-income individuals, although they must take all comers. Almost 50 percent of them are located in rural areas. They serve about 20 percent of rural Americans.
You can find out the closest FQHC to you by clicking here. You might be able to get low-cost dental care and prescription drugs at your FQHC. Some also offer wellness classes.
Republicans have traditionally supported FQHCs because they offer direct medical services. The government is not funding insurance coverage. And, there is recent precedent for bipartisan health care legislation–a mental health care bill sponsored by Senators Stabenow and Blunt.
Senator Sanders will also make the cost of prescription drugs a top priority. He would like prices in the US linked to prices in other wealthy nations. He plans to hold hearings that expose the high profits, high prices and bad acts of the pharmaceutical industry.
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