Today I read an interesting letter from congressman Mike Rogers, and I thought I would share some of the updates he discussed regarding the United States recent legislative activities on health care. Specifically Rogers addressed two recent Acts being pushed through congress; i.e., The School-Based Health Clinic Act and the Food Safety Enhancement Act.

The School-Based Health Clinic Act:

School based clinics are comparable to community health centers across the nation. Essentially, they function to deliver health and preventive care services to children in need. The proposed new legislation would help improve access to health care services by implementing a reliable stream of federal funding. This funding is crucial as over 200,000 kids today in America use school based health clinics to get the treatment, and there are easily 300,000 more children who simply don’t have access to these resources.

The Food Safety Enhancement Act:

Rogers also addressed the fact that currently the FDA does not have the resources to fully protect the public’s health. He explained that in the past six years the number of food scientists the FDA employs has dropped 20%, and out almost 200,000 food facilities less than 3% were inspected. Not only have these disparities cost farmers and food distributors millions, but many American’s have lost their lives or been exposed to health issues as a result of the FDA’s inability to properly monitor our food supply.

This new act which was approved this month will provide the FDA with the resources it needs to not only inspect more facilities, but also introduces new programs to better track and prevent outbreaks.

As many people are hoping, including myself, this bill will be passed by the House of Representatives in an effort to further protect the health of our nation’s citizens.