Federal Legislation

The Good... "Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2005" 

House Bill (H.R. 881)- Click HERE for pdf of this bill Senate Bill (S. 1422) - Click HERE for a pdf of this bill Introduced by Congressman Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in the US House of Representatives on February 17, 2005.Introduced by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) in the U.S. Senate on July 19, 2005 A-CHAMP supports this bill because it would place a ban on mercury containing vaccines for children and pregnant women. Has your Congressman agreed to protect America from mercury in vaccines?

Is your Congressman a co-sponsor of H.R. 881? As of August 17, 2006 Sen. Hagel is the only sponsor of S. 1422

Congressional Bill (HR 1297) Introduced by Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN) and Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ)  on March 15, 2005 it would amend the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by extending the statute of limitations, provide a look-back provision for families who missed the filing deadline, increase compensation for injured children and provide for interim attorney fees and costs. A-CHAMP supports this bill in principle because it is a step in the right direction to help protect the rights of children and other victims of vaccine injury.  We believe the bill should be strengthened in certain areas in order to protect all victims of vaccine injury.

Senate Bill S. 1955Sponsored by Senator Michael Enzi (R. WY), Cosponsored by Senators Richard Burr (R. NC), Conrad Burns (R. MT) and Benjamin Nelson (D. NE)this bill, in the guise of providing health insurance reform for small business, would dismantle all state legislation protecting consumers of health insuranceA-CHAMP OPPOSES this bill because it would operate to further deprive our children of insurance coverage for desperately needed health care.S. 1955 would hurt our children in the following ways: •Takes away important consumer protections protected by state law. If S. 1955 is passed you will face greater difficulty in challenging health plan rejections of your coverage requests.
 
•Takes away states’ rights to set community rating rules, which help prevent insurers from varying premiums based on health status, age, gender and geography. As a result, many retirees not yet eligible for Medicare and many people with chronic health conditions could find themselves priced out of the health insurance market. This will discriminate against your ability to obtain health care. Act to stop it!
 
•Discourages Preventive Health Care. Rather than encouraging preventive care, which is a key to reducing costs in the system, this bill promotes health plans that do not provide preventive benefits such as breast and cervical cancer screening, diabetes monitoring and well-child visits.•Wipes out most state insurance coverage mandates.  For example, it would preempt any state law that requires coverage for the care and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

Congressional Bill (HR 650) Introduced by Congressman Keller (R-FL) on February 8, 2005 it would establish legal reforms in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program under the guise of providing better access to vaccines for children and seniors. The bill also calls for a study to be performed by Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to make recommendations on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to insure that claims are processed rapidly and in a less adversarial manner. A-CHAMP does not support this bill because it would deny children and other victims of vaccine injury access to the court system.