Political Quotes

“I am proud to join my colleagues on the floor today--I thank Senator Boxer and Senator Harkin for their leadership--just as I was proud back in December of 2009 to join Senator Mikulski in sponsoring the women's health amendment to the Affordable Care Act. We are here today celebrating the fact that tomorrow, August 1, women will have access to important health services at no cost. Senator Boxer showed very clearly what a number of those preventive services are. Thanks to the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that go into effect this week, women will have access to a broad range of preventive services from well woman and prenatal visits to gestational diabetes screening, and they will have access to those services without copayments or deductibles. So finances will no longer stand in the way of women getting the preventive health care they need. This also has the potential to save our health system money in the long run. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 75 percent of our health care spending is on people with chronic diseases. So by taking these preventive measures, we can slow this growth and the associated cost of disease. One of those preventive measures I want to talk about this morning is screening for gestational diabetes. As cochair of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, I understand the importance of gestational diabetes screening and the impact it can have on both the mother and the baby.…”