Political Quotes

“several weeks ago, I outlined what I believed this country needs to do in order to address the true issues related to how we care for those who are dying. Today, I am introducing 3 bills to improve access to pain management, increase the number of providers trained to care for those with life-threatening illness, and improve the Medicare hospice benefit. Our medical system is geared towards curing patients, and gives short shrift to those we cannot cure. Modern advances in technology allow us to live longer, but that also means that many of us will live longer with chronic diseases including pain. The Conquering Pain Act will help those patients living and dying in pain, support their families and assist providers in getting information and guidance. This legislation will provide an opportunity for the country to develop and test different ways of providing pain management to patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It would create and fund regional networks to assist patients so they would not have to wait until normal business hours to get relief and help providers receive timely information and guidance as they treat difficult cases. This bill would create a website and require access to it in health care settings so families, patients and providers can have instant information. In addition, the bill requires several studies so we can better understand the other roadblocks for patients seeking pain management.…”