Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1158 - Public Health Service Amendments of 1987

(House)
(Hatch (R) Utah and Kennedy (D) Massachusetts)

The adninistration would have no objection to enactment of S. 1158 if it were amended as indicated below. Accordingly, the administration urges that S. 1158 not be considered under suspension of the rules so that it can be amended on the House floor to:

• delete the authorization for appropriations for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship Program. This program has been the major factor in the 11.6 percent default rate of NHSC obligors.
  
  
• delete the requirement in section 110(b) that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) maintain a six-month vaccine stockpile. Meeting this requirement could necessitate an immediate reduction of State immunization grants.
  
  
• delete section 103, which prohibits the Secretary of HHS from transferring the National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care Technology from its current organizational location in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.
  
  
• delete the special open-ended authorization for immunization grants contained in section 110(a) that is intended to cover vaccine price increases resulting from the excise tax imposed on manufacturers in the House reconciliation bill to fund the vaccine compensation program enacted last year. That highly objectionable method of financing the program would, through section 110(a) of S. 1158, expose the Federal Government to an unknown level of costs.

Furthermore, section 402 of the bill, which deals with medical malpractice issues, was only recently included in S. 1158, without benefit of a hearing or floor debate. This provision is extremely complex and may unduly restrict the flow of information to people interested in ensuring quality health care. It is inappropriate to include such a significant and potentially controversial provision in a bill being considered under suspension of the rules.