Tag: Health Care

Senators Urge U.S. Trade Representative to Protect Public Health and Environmental Laws from Foreign Trade Tribunals

May 21, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, five U.S. Senators expressed concerns that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could undermine current or future public health and environmental laws, and urged the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that the TPP would exempt such policies from being challenged under foreign trade tribunals known as “investor-state dispute

On National Nurses Day, Merkley and Capito Introduce Bipartisan National Nurse Act of 2015

May 6, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Honoring National Nurses Day, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) today introduced the bipartisan National Nurse Act of 2015, legislation that would elevate the role of nurses in America’s public health by designating a National Nurse for Public Health. The National Nurse position

VIDEO RELEASE: Merkley Budget Statement – Budget Passed Last Night Provides “More Tax Breaks and Corporate Welfare for Millionaires, and More Pain and Suffering for the Middle Class”

May 6, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the U.S. Senate passed the final FY2016 Republican budget in a narrow, partisan vote. Prior to the vote, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley spoke on the Senate floor to highlight how the budget would harm Oregon’s middle-class and working families. Video of the floor speech is

Merkley Introduces Legislation to Make Hospitals Safer for Nurses and Patients

April 29, 2015

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley introduced legislation to make hospitals safer for nurses and patients. The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2015 requires hospitals participating in Medicare to implement thorough staffing plans for nursing services and establishes whistleblower protections for patients and employees. “As the husband

Merkley Renews Calls for FDA Action as New Study Shows E-Cigarette Use Tripling Among Middle and High School Students

April 16, 2015

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after a new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showed e-cigarette use among middle and high school students tripling in one year, from 2013 to 2014: “This alarming new study should be a wake-up call for the FDA.

Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill to Extend County Payments and Ensure Medicare Access

April 14, 2015

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to help ensure that seniors on Medicare have access to their doctors. It also includes an extension of county payments for cash-strapped Oregon timber counties: “The badly-needed extension of county payments is a lifeline

Merkley Highlights Rising Prescription Drug Costs for Oregon Seniors

March 31, 2015

Medford, OR – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley continued his statewide tour of Oregon to highlight the very real impacts that the recently passed Senate budget will have on Oregonians and the need for a different approach that puts the middle class first. Merkley visited the Oak Valley Community in Talent

ICYMI — Consumer Protection News: Credit-Reporting Agencies to Improve Medical Debt Policies

March 23, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Case You Missed It: This month brought big news for consumers, with credit-reporting agencies agreeing to major changes in how they treat medical debt. The three big credit-reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, will now have to wait 180 days before adding medical debt to a

Merkley Meets with FDA Leader and Urges Action on Tobacco Regulation

March 4, 2015

Washington, DC – Today, Senator Jeff Merkley, joined by Senators Blumenthal (D-CT) and Markey (D-MA), met with the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products to urge the agency to finalize its plan for regulating tobacco products. During today’s meeting, Senator Merkley also asked for

Senators want FDA to regulate e-cigs: ‘They have just failed to act’

February 11, 2015

EUGENE, Ore. – U.S. senators, including Jeff Merkley of Oregon, are calling on the FDA to change the regulation of electronic cigarettes. By phone from Washington, D.C., Merkley told KVAL News he wants three things by April 25: Childproof liquid nicotine containers Restrictions on selling nicotine in flavors that appeal