Donnelly Calls on Senate to Act on Medical Device Tax Repeal, CHIP, Community Health Centers Funding, Opioid Crisis

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly today spoke on the floor of the Senate calling for bipartisan action to address a number of pressing health care issues, including repealing the Medical Device Tax, reauthorization for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), funding for the Community Health Center Fund, and the need for more funds to combat opioid abuse and to address the shortage of treatment providers.

To see Donnelly’s floor speech click here. 

Donnelly said in his speech, “I strongly urge my colleagues to work with me to quickly and meaningfully address the medical device tax…  

“We must reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program – also known as CHIP – that expired in September. I have long supported the CHIP program. It provides health coverage for millions of kids, including nearly 115,000 children from Indiana… 

“Like the CHIP Program, Community Health Centers have enjoyed long bipartisan support for the high-quality care that they provide our families. Also like the CHIP program, the funding for the Community Health Center expired on September 30, leaving many health centers across Indiana worried if they will have the resources they need to continue to serve Hoosiers… 

“Finally, we have demonstrated a common desire to address the needs of the opioid and drug abuse crisis. It is a scourge. It took the lives of 63,000 people just in 2016… We can show our commitment to increasing access to treatment by reauthorizing the National Health Service Corps program, that expired in September.”