U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WW) focused a lot of her attention and energy during the month of March on health care-related issues that span myriad American demographics.
And she’s not stopping there.
“I am planning to re-introduce the Rural Access to Hospice Act in the coming weeks, which will undo a small but meaningful statutory barrier that is inhibiting seniors’ access to hospice in rural communities across the country,” Capito recently told The Ripon Advance.
The senator, elected in 2014 as the first female U.S. senator in her home state’s history, said the problem was brought to her attention by the Hospice of Southern West Virginia in Beckley. Capito last year had introduced the bill with bipartisan support and now wants it to gain traction during this session of Congress. She said she’s committed to ensuring “patients and their loved ones have access to the peace, comfort and dignity hospice care provides.”
“As someone who has cared for aging parents, I understand how important palliative and hospice care is and how much support and comfort it provides to patients and their families,” Capito said.
Those sentiments are also the impetus behind proposed legislation she and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced March 23 called the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA).
The comprehensive reform bill would grow, improve and sustain the palliative care and hospice workforce to keep pace with patient need and improve the well-being of Americans with life-threatening illnesses. In fact, Capito said she and her colleague “coordinated with a number of national organizations who work in these areas to determine where there was a need and how best to meet those needs through legislation.”
For example, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 5.5 million Americans currently live with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. And for people in the advanced stages of this terminal disease, palliative and hospice care can improve both the quality of care and quality of life, said Robert Egge, chief public policy officer of the association. “Yet the availability and quality of this care is limited,” he said.
The Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine already have praised PCHETA.
The legislation would, among other things, ramp up workforce development by establishing Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers to improve the training of interdisciplinary health professionals in palliative care. It would also boost training by establishing grants or contracts to schools of medicine, teaching hospitals and graduate medical education programs to train physicians and nurses in several related areas.
The bill also directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use existing authorities and funds to expand palliative care research, advance clinical practice and improve patient care. And it would launch a national awareness campaign about the benefits of palliative care and services.
PCHETA, says Capito, is a way to move this important field forward.
“My parents first utilized palliative care and then hospice, and I was able to see the benefits firsthand. I feel strongly we must strengthen training and education options for those involved in these fields, and raise awareness that this type of care exists. These services ensure quality care for those in the final stages of life,” she said.
Capito said she envisions the legislation being funded through a variety of new and existing programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including at the Health Resources Services Agency (HRSA), NIH, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And she said that “patients of all ages could benefit from palliative and hospice care.”
Battling opioids
Also in March, Capito charged forward with legislation related to fighting the nation’s opioid crisis — the INTERDICT Act and Jessie’s Law.
“West Virginia has the highest rate of overdose deaths in the nation. The drug epidemic has been devastating in our communities, and curbing this crisis is one of my top priorities,” Capito told The Ripon Advance on March 30 in emailed remarks.
So far this year, she hasn’t wasted any time in fighting this battle.
In her typical bipartisan fashion, Capito — along with U.S. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) — introduced the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act. The senators want to get at the source of the drug problem by stopping the flow of illicit fentanyl from Mexico, China and other nations from getting into the United States at the borders.
Specifically, the bill would appropriate $15 million to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with tools such as hi-tech chemical screening devices so that they could find and ban the entry of fentanyl and other illegal synthetic opioids.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that’s similar to morphine, but up to 100 times more potent. It’s a schedule II prescription drug typically used to treat patients with severe or chronic pain. Sold on the street, fentanyl replaces heroin or it gets mixed with heroin or cocaine to amplify their potency. If a person who uses such drugs is unaware they’ve been laced with fentanyl, the risk of overdose increases, NIDA says.
Unfortunately, overdose is a far too-common word in American culture these days. Capito’s empathy again appears to ground her determination in pushing ahead with another piece of legislation aimed at helping to improve the care of patients who are recovering from drug addictions.
In early March, she and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) re-introduced Jessie’s Law, which would ensure medical professionals have full knowledge about their patient’s previous opioid addiction when consent is given.
Capito said the bill would help prevent tragic events like the death of Jessie Grubb, 30, a recovering heroin addict who died from a prescription drug overdose in 2016 following a communications mishap by her doctors.
“Jessie’s story is truly heartbreaking. As a mother and a grandmother, I cannot imagine the pain the Grubb family has experienced following the loss of their beloved daughter. West Virginians have lost too many loved ones to the terrible scourge of addiction,” Capito said in reintroducing the proposed bill, which is named for Grubb.
The senator, who also served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years, stands with President Donald Trump in efforts to find more solutions to the drug and overdose problem.
“Just this week, President Trump created a new commission to examine the opioid epidemic in our country,” she pointed out.
The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, to be headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was created March 29 by executive order. The commission is slated to issue a fall report that identifies existing federal funds for the epidemic, locates places where limited drug treatment options exist, reviews prevention strategies and offers recommendations and solutions to the president.
“I strongly support the creation of this commission and look forward to working with the Trump administration on this critical issue,” Capito said.