Harkin/Hatfield/Coyne Health Research Fund
Three of the four Health Care Reform bills reported by Committees in Congress
contain versions of the Harkin/Hatfield/Coyne Health Research Fund. The
Senate Finance Committee Bill would create a biomedical reserach trust fund
financed by a quarter of 1.75% surcharge on health insurance premiums; the
Senate Labor and Human Resources Bill would phase in a 1% surcharge on
premiums which would provide $4-5 billlion increased support for NIH by the
year 2000; the House Ways and Means Committee bill would finance the Health
Research Trust Fund with a surcharge on premiums equal to 0.5% of a proposed
2% tax on premiums. The leadership in the House and Senate are currently
drafting bills to meld provisions from the various committee bills into one
piece of legislation that will be taken to the floor in early August.
The American Society for Microbiology Public Affairs Report is recommending
that individuals contact key legislators by fax or mailgram and urge that the
Harkin/Hatfield/Coyne Health Research Fund be included in the health care
reform bills that will be brought to the floor.
House of Representatives FAX number
Richard Gephardt (D-MO) House Majority Leader 202-225-7452
Joe Moakley (D-MA) Chair, House Rules Committee 202-225-3984
Sam Gibbons (D-FL), Chair, House Ways and Means Committee 202-225-0254
Pete Stark (D-CA) Chair, House Ways and Means Subcommittee
on Health 202-225-0902
John Dingell (D-MI) Chair, House Energy and Commerce
Committee 202-225-4637
Henry Waxman (D-CA) Chair, House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Health 202-225-4099
William Ford (D-MI) Chair, House Education and Labor
Committee 202-225-0489
Senate
George Mitchell (D-ME) Senate Majority Leader 202-224-6853
Edward Kennedy (D-MA) Chair, Senate Labor and Human
Resources Committee 202-224-2417
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) Chair, Senate Finance
Committee 202-228-3815
