Opening Statement Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. Medicaid Reform: The National Governors Association’s Bipartisan Roadmap June 15, 2005 Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today, and I want to thank Governors Huckabee and Warner for being here today. I think we can all agree that Medicaid is a program in crisis. In 2005, the Medicaid program has grown to become a program that costs the federal and state governments $330 million a year while covering over 50 million beneficiar... Read more

Last week, Congressman Michael C. Burgess met with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt. During the meeting, Rep. Burgess and Secretary Leavitt discussed critical, upcoming health care issues including Medicaid reform, the Medicare prescription drug roll out beginning in 2006, community health centers and health information technology standards. The meeting was part of a weekly series of meetings where Congressman Burgess meets with distinguished governme... Read more

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, within the past few weeks the Canadian Supreme Court has issued an opinion that it is unconstitutional for the State of Quebec to outlaw the private practice of medicine and private health care in the State of Quebec. This is an interesting development because we are frequently told that our neighbor to the north has solved their health care problems, while the United States languishes behind. In an editorial yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, they point out that th... Read more

The Freedom Flat Tax Act of 2005 Submitted by: U.S. Representative Michael C. Burgess (TX-26) 1721 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC June 10, 2005 I would like to thank President Bush for his leadership on tax reform, as well as the members of this panel for their service. I believe that this is one of the most important issues facing our nation today. I am pleased to have the opportunity to offer my Freedom Flat Tax proposal to the Tax Reform Panel for consideration. I would first ... Read more

Today, Congressman Michael C. Burgess (TX-26) introduced legislation aimed at correcting a loophole in HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) that denies health care benefits for those who participate in legal transportation activities. The bill will fix the current loophole that does not permit an employer to deny health coverage to an employee on the basis of their participation in a motorized recreational activity, but allows insurance companies to deny benefits for injur... Read more

The HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues Congressman Blunt and Congressman Strickland in introducing legislation that would prohibit insurers from denying payment to health plan participants for injuries sustained while engaged in certain recreational activities like horseback riding or motorcycling. In January 2001, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and the Health Care Financing Administration, issued a rule in a... Read more

Madam speaker, the smallest state in the union has now replaced the biggest state in the union as one of those states in a crisis state in its medical liability insurance. ok, there may be those in this body who would argue that Texas is no longer the largest state of the union, but, madam speaker, the good news is that two years ago, Texas faced up to the challenge of medical liability reform and passed a law on a state level, affirmed it with a constitutional amendment that put a cap on non-ec... Read more

Click here for the full version.Recent News from Capitol Hill Burgess Votes for Increased Enforcement of Texas Borders Congressman Michael C. Burgess (TX-26) voted in favor of H.R. 2360, the Homeland Security Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06). The House bill provides $30.85 billion for operations and activities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in FY06, an increase of $1.37 billion above the fiscal year 2005 (FY05) enacted levels. “Voting in favor of the FY06 Homeland Se... Read more

More than 225 participants attended the 2005 East and Southeast Fort Worth Economic Development Summit which aimed to highlight areas where the community could spur economic growth. The East and Southeast Fort Worth Economic Development Summit, organized by the Public Forum Institute and hosted by Honorary Chairman U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, was held to define a vision for the economic future of the region, and to develop a set of recommendations to address a number of challenges facin... Read more

Representatives Kay Granger (TX-12), Joe Barton (TX-06), Michael Burgess (TX-26) and Kenny Marchant (TX-24) said today at a press conference that they strongly oppose proposed legislation introduced by Congressmen Sam Johnson and Jeb Hensarling to repeal the Wright Amendment. Rep. Granger said: “Rep. Johnson this morning said at a news conference that this was an issue of airlines being able to have the freedom to fly wherever they wanted. He’s dead wrong. This isn’t a freedom issue. It’s a loca... Read more