BIOGRAPHY
Mike Capuano has served six terms in Congress, after 5 as Mayor of Somerville. He has fought to expand access to healthcare and increase funding for medical research and education. He organized a bipartisan caucus for community health centers to support primary and preventive care.
National Health Reform Implementation: In addition to expanding coverage through Medicaid, national health reform is expected to provide more than 17 million people with subsidies to purchase coverage through Exchanges. However, some people might still not be able to afford insurance. What measures, if any, would you support to help make health insurance affordable for families?
Elected officials must acknowledge that quality health care will not be cheap. They must be prepared to appropriate monies to support universal access and to subsidize those who cannot afford coverage. Further, there must be continued accountability within the health insurance industry and, perhaps, for the exchanges, some changes in minimum essential coverage. I would agree to consider changes if they made coverage more affordable for all.
Childhood Obesity: More than one in six U.S children are obese, a rate that has tripled in the past 30 years. Childhood obesity is linked to a number of debilitating and expensive diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, several kinds of cancer, and other chronic conditions. What can be done, if anything, to help families and communities address this issue?
Childhood obesity can be decreased if every child has a pediatrician who can explain its dangers to child’s caregiver. But childhood obesity may be symptom of deeper social problems. Some parents may need more than good advice to provide healthful diets. That said, I support measures like keeping candy and sugared drinks out of schools and also initiatives like” Safe Routes to School” to encourage walking or biking to school.
Children’s Budget: Representative Danny Davis and Senator Menendez have introduced the Children’s Budget Act (H.R. 3772/S. 3108), legislation that would require federal spending on children’s programs to be separately displayed and analyzed in the President’s budget, illustrating how the federal government allocates resources for children. What importance, if any, do you place on creating a Children’s Budget and why?
have great respect for Congressman Davis, but I have not signed onto this bill because, I believe, as above in question 2, that the problems children face are, in large measure, the problems faced by the adults who care for them. Children suffer now from their parents’ anxieties about jobs and housing. They would be helped immeasurably by many initiatives that would not help children alone.
Physician Shortages: A number of studies haven show that physician shortages can lead to more limited access to health care and longer wait times for patients, and a recent study of children’s hospitals found that shortages in pediatric subspecialties are adversely affecting patient care. What do you think can be done, if anything, to address the problem of physician shortages in certain medical specialties?
I fought hard for academic medicine during the debate about health care reform. I support expansion of medical education and incentives to specialize in family medicine and pediatrics.
Child Care: Child care is a critical support for many parents, yet paying for child care services is becoming increasingly difficult as costs continue to rise and many Americans are negatively impacted by the recession. What measures, if any, should be taken to help more working families afford child care services?
I would greatly expand pre-school programs, like Head Start. Intensive early education will not only help working families with child care but improve school readiness and health outcomes for vulnerable children.
Juvenile Justice: In 2009, a Senate bill was introduced to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974. What importance, if any, do you place on reauthorizing this piece of legislation and why? What changes would you make to the JJDPA, if any?
I am a co-sponsor of H.R.6029, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2010. I believe this legislation will be useful but, as with so many problems affecting young people, better policies are needed to support the communities and families in which they will - or will not - thrive.
Secondary Education: Every year over one million American students fail to graduate from high school. What policy ideas are most important to you in working to increase graduation rates and strengthen America’s public schools?
Dropout prevention must begin early with programs like Head Start. For at-risk older students, we must provide counseling and remedial education that is supportive and not stigmatizing: programs like TRIO, Upward Bound, and Gear Up - for which I have consistently supported funding. Overall, we must focus on students, and not necessarily test scores, to fully prepare the next generation of thinkers and citizens.
