| |  | | | | Impressive Students
The other day, I visited with students from Grandview High School, who placed second in a contest, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The students were tasked with creating a video demonstrating how engagement, hope, and well-being impact financial success. For their good work, they received a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank. I was lucky enough to have lunch with these impressive young men and women.
| In this photo with me, from left to right: Venus Webster, Kerry Coombe, Chloe White, Rekaila Turner, as well as Britney Willingham, Chauneisha Webster, Stephen Fielder |
Today, I spoke to students who are part of Ruskin High School's Future Business Leaders of America, on their visit to Washington, D.C.
Pictured here with me are students from Ruskin and
their teachers, and chaperones. |
These students placed first in the contest. Ruskin's video featured FBLA students James Adewumi, Marcel Greger, Camille Rucker, Jaran West and Aaron Wiggins. The school's entry won and FBLA members were invited to participate in the 2011 Youth Leadership Summit, which is part of the trip.
Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
Today, I submitted a statement to the Congressional Record, in honor of September being Childhood Obesity Month, and to commend Children's Mercy's efforts to keep our youth healthy and fit. The text of the statement is below.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of September as Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, thirty-two percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight. According to this study, sixteen percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese, meaning they have a body mass index in the ninety-fifth percentile. In my home state of Missouri, almost thirty-four percent of children are obese and overweight. Sadly, the childhood obesity rate is growing, doubling over the last two decades, while the obesity rate for adolescents has nearly tripled over the last two decades.
These staggering increases in obesity are leading to a number of health problems among America's youth. Incidents of type two diabetes and hypertension are on the rise, and more children today are at risk of heart disease, cancer, and stroke. It has been estimated that one out of three males, and two out of five females born in the year 2000 will eventually suffer from type two diabetes.
The obesity epidemic hits some communities harder than others, greatly impacting our more vulnerable communities. Studies have shown that these children are more likely to suffer from obesity and the related health problems. Low income areas have far fewer parks and sidewalks than wealthier communities, and children from these neighborhoods have less opportunity to play ball, ride bikes, or run outside. Children who live in lower income neighborhoods also have less access to fresh produce and healthy foods. Children living in food deserts are not able to consume healthier foods as often as they should, relying more on processed and high calorie foods for their meals.
Mr. Speaker, it is essential that this Congress work to improve access to healthy food for all Americans. We need to teach our young healthy eating habits, promote physical activity, and increase access to fresh foods by encouraging supermarkets to open in the urban core, and embracing farmers markets and urban farming. Obesity is a costly epidemic. Not only does it drastically increase health care spending, totaling fourteen billion dollars a year, but it greatly reduces the health and prosperity of our children. I would also like to commend the hard work being done by Children's Mercy Hospital in bringing awareness to this issue. I urge my colleagues to stand with me in support of Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. |
One Year Anniversary
While one year after the Patient's Bill of Rights in the Affordable Care Act began to go into effect, millions of Americans are benefiting from the improved coverage and lower costs provided by the Act.
The protections of the Patient's Bill of Rights became effective for all plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010. That means that, by now, one year later, all Americans with private health plans are now receiving the protections of the Bill of Rights.
The Affordable Care Act has put Americans and their families, not the health insurance companies, back in charge of their health care. The Act is already improving the lives of Americans, including young adults, children with pre-existing conditions, owners of small businesses, and seniors, along with all of the 165 million Americans who have private insurance.
Under the Patient's Bill of Rights, if you are one of the 165 million Americans with private insurance, you are now receiving the following protections:
- You can no longer be arbitrarily dropped from coverage by your insurance company simply because you get sick.
- Your insurance company can no longer place a lifetime limit on your coverage.
- Your insurance company can no longer place low annual limits on your coverage.
- If you are under age 65 and in a new plan, you are now receiving free key preventive services.
In addition, because of the Patient's Bill of Rights: - If you are a young adult, you can now stay on your parents' health plan until your 26th birthday, if you do not have coverage of your own. Because of this provision, one million additional young people have gained coverage over the last year.
- If you have a child under age 19, they can no longer be denied coverage by an insurance company for having a "pre-existing condition." Up to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions are now protected from discrimination.
In addition to the Patient's Bill of Rights, the Affordable Care Act also provided new Medicare benefits for America's seniors, which became effective on January 1, 2011. These new Medicare benefits include the following:
- Seniors are now receiving a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs when they are in the Medicare Part D ‘donut hole' coverage gap. Nearly 1.3 million seniors have already received the discount.
- Seniors are now receiving free key preventive health services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, under Medicare. Nearly 19 million seniors have already received one or more free preventive services.
- Seniors are now receiving a free Annual Wellness Visit under Medicare. 1.3 million seniors have already taken advantage of the new free Annual Wellness Visit.
Finally, for small businesses, the Affordable Care Act is providing tax credits of up to 35 percent of employer premium contributions for those small businesses that choose to offer coverage. The tax credits became effective beginning for tax year 2010. There are up to 4 million small businesses that are eligible for this tax credit.
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Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress
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