Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding the time. Madam Speaker, I rise with concern about H.R. 6087, Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act. It was mentioned that it is fine if healthcare practitioners are qualified to deliver workmen's comp. Certainly, in some States, nurse practitioners and physician assistants--nurse practitioners, specifically, can practice without a physician oversight, but the question is whether that is appropriate for workmen's compensation. Remember, workmen's compensation includes people who have been injured or claimed to have been injured on the job. These employees deserve the highest level of care, the highest level of evaluation, of diagnosis, certification, and treatment. And what this bill does is turns over the qualifications for who is going to treat those injured Federal workers to the State to make the decision. Because it says, Well, if in a State they decide that a physician assistant practicing independently is just fine, well, that Federal worker is not going to have the benefit of having a physician involved in that care. {time} 1515 Madam Speaker, this is a serious policy debate.…”