E 962 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 9, 1995

WELCOME TO OLIVIA ALEXANDRA

BECERRA

HON. XAVIER BECERRA OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 9, 1995

Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, it is with great

joy that I inform my colleagues that on April

25, 1995, my wife, Carolina, gave birth to

Olivia Alexandra, our second daughter.

Because she was born near the end of the

Easter district work period, I elected to remain

in Los Angeles during the week of May 1 to

be with and help care for her during her first

week home. As such, I missed a number of

recorded votes when the House met on May

2. I would have voted on each amendment

and bill:

On motion to instruct conferees on H.R.

1158, Omnibus Rescissions and Supplemental

Appropriations (rollcall 303)—Aye.

On final passage of H. Con. Res. 53, visit

by President of Taiwan (rollcall 304)—Aye.

On final passage of H. Res. 135, condemnation of the Oklahoma City bombing (rollcall 305)—Aye.

Olver amendment to H.R. 655, Hydrogen

Future Act (rollcall 306)—Aye.

Brown of California amendment to H.R. 655

(rollcall 307)—Aye.

THE SARAH WEBER HOME INFUSION CONSUMER PROTECTION

fACT OF 1995

HON. SHERROD BROWN OF OHIO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 9, 1995

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today, I

introduce the Sarah Weber Home Infusion

Consumer Protection Act of 1995 in honor of

Sarah Weber, a young girl from Ohio.

Unfortunately, many of the most vulnerable

patients who depend on home infusion therapy are currently at the mercy of certain unscrupulous home infusion providers. This legislation will ensure that patients are served

more appropriately by these providers.

Let me share with you Sarah’s story. Sarah

was a happy little girl from Cleveland Heights,

OH, who suffered from cerebral palsy and a

rare digestive disorder that would not allow

her to tolerate food. Given her condition, she

needed to be fed and medicated intravenously. Wanting to stay with her family at

home, Sarah received this treatment with her

mother as her nurse. It sounds like the perfect

situation. Unfortunately for Sarah and her family, it was not.

Instead, Marie was plagued by bill collectors

once her $2 million insurance policy ran out.

Sometimes, the wrong medications were delivered. Thankfully, Marie was astute enough to

recognize the mistake and resolve the situation before harm could be done. Sarah was

dropped by one provider, without notice, left

hanging by a thread between life and death,

with only a day’s worth of life sustaining supplies.

These are just a few of the examples of the

lack of quality standards and harmful practices

that exist. My bill will require home infusion

companies to be licensed according to quality

standards included in the law. Further, the bill

would crack down on fraud in the industry by

extending the current restrictions on physician

referrals to companies in which they have a financial interest to home infusion companies

and all payers.

I believe this bill will go far to eliminate the

abuses and will restore families faith in home

infusion. Many seriously ill patients depend on

home infusion for their medication or nutrients.

In many cases, the available technology has

enabled them to remain in the comfort of their

own homes while they receive treatment. Yet,

what good is treatment at home if it is of questionable quality? We must ensure that the care

patients receive at home is of the utmost quality and that the patient’s physician is involved

in the process.

A summary of the bill follows. I invite all my

colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.

SUMMARY OF SARAH WEBER HOME INFUSION

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 1995

1. Licensure: Require home infusion providers to be licensed according to the standards defined in the bill.

The language of the bill requires persons

providing, or arranging for the provision of

services, to hold a license. In this context,

persons will apply to individuals or companies, whichever applies.

Further, the bill defines home infusion

broadly to encompass all types of home infusion providers.

2. Standards: The bill would require providers: to maintain clinical records; adhere to

written protocols and policies; make services

available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

coordinate all home infusion therapy services with the patient’s physician; conduct a

quality assessment and assurance program

including drug regimen and review and coordination of patient care; assure that only

trained (and licensed if necessary) personnel

provide infusion products or services; assume

responsibility for the quality of services provided by others under arrangements with the

person; establish appropriate protocols and

explain protocols clearly to patients prior to

the initiation of treatment plan; and, meet

other requirements which the Secretary may

determine are necessary to assure the safe

and effective provision of home infusion

therapy services.

3. Authorizes Funds for Start up Grants to

the States: The bill provides for the authorization of funds to provide assistance to the

states in establishing a licensing system. It

further states to require the payment of a

fee for the processing and licensing of companies.

4. Restrictions on Referrals: The legislation will ban physicians from referring patients to home infusion providers in which

they have a financial interest. This requirement would apply to all payers.

5. Enforcement: The bill would be enforced

via civil monetary penalties determined by

the Secretary of Health and Human Services

but not to exceed $10,000. The Secretary may

also file an action to enjoin persons from

violating the Act.

6. Study: The bill would require the study

of the feasibility and economic impact of

coverage of infusion services that may otherwise be covered in a hospital setting.

DR. BARBARA BARLOW, A GUARDIAN ANGEL FOR THE CHILDREN

HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 9, 1995

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to

bring to your attention and to the attention of

my colleagues here in the house, a story

about a very dedicated doctor committed to

helping save the lives of our children in the

Harlem community and beyond.

This guardian angel of which I speak is Dr.

Barbara Barlow, chief of Pediatric Surgery at

Harlem Hospital Center.

Her push for prevention in helping keep our

children on the playgrounds and out of emergency rooms, was depicted recently in a story

in Parade Magazine, April 16, 1995.

I am proud to have such a remarkable and

devoted individual caring for the children in the

Harlem community.

HER PUSH FOR PREVENTION KEEPS KIDS OUT

OF ER

(By Peter Hellman)

Dr. Barbara Barlow still recalls the 4-yearold boy who arrived at Harlem Hospital Center 20 years ago, soon after she had been appointed chief of pediatric surgery. ‘‘He tumbled head-first out a fourth-floor window

while his mother went to answer the phone,’’

she told me. ‘‘Multiple fractures. Brain dead.

An only child. It was just so incredibly sad.’’

Dr. Barlow was then treating an average of

one dozen children annually who’d fallen

from windows. ‘‘I only saw kids who were

still breathing,’’ said Barlow. ‘‘Others had

been taken directly to the morgue.’’

Convinced that ‘‘prevention is better than

sewing them up,’’ Dr. Barlow decided to get

involved. She knew that installing inexpensive window gates would remedy the problem

and that a new law required New York City

Landlords to install the guards upon request.

But compliance was spotty, so Barlow put

her energy into a campaign, started by the

city’s health department, called ‘‘Children

Can’t Fly.’’ Harlem students acted our dramas about window falls. They were sent home

from hospital clinics with window-guard request forms. At the culmination of the campaign, ‘‘Children Can’t Fly’’ balloons were

tied to window gates all over Harlem.

The result? Last year, Dr. Barlow treated

only one window-fall victim.

If window falls could be so decisively reduced by attacking root causes, reasoned Dr.

Barlow, why not also the other kinds of trauma injuries to Harlem’s children? Through

the mid–1980s, they were being hurt at a rate

that was double the national average. Now,

thanks to the Injury Prevention Program

that Dr. Barlow established in 1988, admissions of children with trauma injuries to

Harlem Hospital have been reduced by 44 percent.

Dr. Barlow first focused on Harlem’s dirty

and dangerous playgrounds. Emergencyroom data showed that they caused many injuries. To help upgrade the playgrounds, she

persuaded the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Princeton, N.J., to provide a $240,000 grant. (‘‘A very untraditional

use for our money in terms of health care,’’

admitted Michael Beachler, a program officer for the foundation.)

Though she was outwardly confident, Dr.

Barlow remembers ‘‘lying awake all night

and thinking, ‘What if we can’t get anyone

to fix these playgrounds’?’’ But it turned out

Barlow could put people together as well as