Political Quotes

“Just briefly, again, I thank the ranking member, Congresswoman Foxx, for her remarks and Mr. Walberg, who I think very effectively and specifically addressed some of the issues that we have heard in this brief debate regarding whether or not this is opening the door to practitioners who really aren't qualified to engage in the handling of workers' compensation claims. Right now, today, there are 27 States that actually allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to handle workers' compensation claims under State law, including, by the way, North Carolina and Maryland. Just going down the list, it is from all different regions of the country, and, again, I think it has demonstrated that the system functions smoothly. As the Congressional Budget Office indicated, it allows for quicker care because you have more access when you have a broader, larger pool of qualified practitioners. That is really what this bill is aimed at. It is just to make sure that Federal workers will have that same opportunity to access care, particularly when they are in underserved parts of the country. To sort of frame it, I mentioned earlier the New London sub base where they have a really sizable firefighters contingent there. Again, fires on submarines and Navy ships is a demanding, highly specialized area of practice.…”