Health Care a Priority for Rep. Johnson
By GLYNIS VALENTI, Times Leader Staff Writer , Times Leader
BARNESVILLE – Health care is a priority for U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), and he visited Barnesville Hospital Wednesday to learn more about its accomplishments and issues. Johnson has cosponsored no fewer than 14 health care-related bills since taking office in January.
“I love coming to see small hospitals,” said Johnson, whose home base is Marietta. “There is always so much pride and always success stories.”
Hospital CEO Rick Doan gave the congressman a presentation on the hospital’s history, services, technology improvements and its affect on the surrounding communities.
Johnson asked if the hospital were involved in telemedicine programs, and Doan told him about the new stroke program with The Ohio State University Medical Center where doctors in Columbus can receive vital signs and see the patient in real time via the new equipment. Johnson cosponsored bill H.R. 1832, “Service Members’ Telemedicine and E-Health Portability Act of 2011,” that would allow telemedical consultations and diagnosis for injured United States military personnel.
Jan Chambers, director of development for the Barnesville Hospital Foundation, added that Barnesville has received a grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture for digital mammography equipment. “It will allow us to do diagnostics rather than only screenings. Early detection is our goal,” noted Doan. “We consider this primary care.”
In 2010 Barnesville Hospital performed 1,021 surgeries, had 6,000 in-patient days and serviced 36,000 out-patient and emergency department visits. It provides 315 jobs including 180 licensed or certified personnel. There are 60 physicians on staff representing 18 specialties. The hospital’s service area is one of the largest in the state, covering western Belmont County and portions of Monroe, Guernsey, Harrison and Noble counties. Noble County has no hospital within its boundaries at all.
Regarding challenges that the hospital faces, Doan mentioned an undersized and dated facility, physician recruitment and offering competitive compensation packages, a high volume of uncompensated care and a state franchise tax that cost the hospital $138,000 in 2010 but will more than double to $290,000 within the year.
Johnson maintained that much of the challenge is created by the government becoming involved in health care and he voted to repeal the federal health care takeover. This visit helped him get insight into how hospitals and communities could be impacted by the economy and legislation.
“I want to put common sense health care in place that will drive down the cost of malpractice insurance,” he said. “That will assist small hospitals with recruitment. The government needs to get out of the way. The standards are creating burdens.” He supports empowering community hospitals to “run themselves like businesses.”
District 6 includes 12 counties stretching along the Ohio borders of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky, from Youngstown to Portsmouth. To find out more about Rep. Johnson’s voting history and committee affiliations, visit billjohnson.house.gov or his Facebook page, or call, toll free, 1-855-376-0868.
County Must Celebrate Its Successes
http://www.irontontribune.com/2011/08/11/county-must-celebrate-its-successes/
Ironton Tribune Editorial
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson will have the opportunity to return to Washington, D.C., to tout three of Lawrence County’s recent economic and community development successes.
The congressman toured the county Tuesday as part of his visit to southern Ohio and other parts of his district.
This just gave him the opportunity to get a first-hand look at some legitimate victories for public and private sector economic development.
Johnson visited Ohio University Southern’s child development center in Hanging Rock, Close to Home III assisted living center in Ironton and the new Chatham Steel location in The Point industrial park.
It is always important when our elected leaders are able to get a good look and see what our region can do with a little partnership and some resources. This may help motivate them to fight for funding for our region, knowing that we will put it to good use.
It’s very important that Lawrence County foster a positive image when it comes to economic development and growth. Things are moving forward but we must always work to share that with the public.
Showcasing successes like these to our elected officials and developers across the world is a tremendous first step.
Proposed Rule Would Complicate Work On Farms
http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/537719.html
By Ashley Rittenhouse – The Marietta Times
Just about every day, the folks who work on the Zimmer family’s dairy farm in Marietta drive farm equipment on the public roads that surround the farm to get from one point to another.
“We have to because we have seven miles between our fields,” said Dean Zimmer, 49.
If a rule that is being considered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is enacted, anyone who drives farm equipment on a public road would be required to have a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
The proposal is drawing criticism from some local farmers.
“They just make more and more regulations for us farmers that we can’t keep up with,” Zimmer said. “We don’t set the price for our end product – we take what we’re given – and it makes it extremely hard for us to make a living when they keep putting more and more regulations on us.”
According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s website, bmv.ohio.gov, a CDL temporary permit costs $27, while a CDL license being purchased for the first time costs $42. A CDL renewal is $44.75.
Additionally, there are fees totaling $50 for various tests a person must take in order to obtain a CDL.
A call to the U.S. Department of Transportation was not returned Thursday; however, previous releases indicate the rule is being considered for safety reasons.
Some local farmers don’t buy this argument.
“Three out of four times, it’s the individual in the other vehicle that doesn’t understand what you can or can’t do with a tractor,” Zimmer said, noting that tractors take up a lot of space on the road, don’t travel very fast, and don’t stop or turn very quickly, either.
Darren Ball, 42, who helps out on his family’s beef farm in Watertown, agreed.
“The farmers ought to know how to operate a tractor,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to help with the safety concerns of it.”
Lt. Mary Pfeifer, commander of the Ohio Highway Patrol’s Marietta post, said the post responded to two accidents last year and two so far this year involving farm vehicles on public roads.
She said none of those accidents resulted in fatalities.
“I understand agriculture and farmers and making sure they get their product to market and items to field but it’s also imperative that safety is paramount,” she said.
Pfeifer noted that motorists should be cautious around farm vehicles, allowing extra time and space when traveling near them. She also said operators of farm vehicles need to be make sure they are in good working order before taking them on public roads.
Since the issue falls under a federal agency’s rule-making authority, there will not be legislation regarding the issue presented in Congress.
Still, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, is keeping a “close eye” on the “heavy-handed regulation,” his spokesperson said Thursday.
“This is another unnecessary job-killing proposal from an administration that is hostile to rural communities,” said Jessica Towhey, a spokesperson for Johnson. “While Congressman Johnson is concerned about the safety of our roads and highways, he feels this proposed rule would negatively impact small and family farm operations.”
One concern with the proposal is that in order to get a CDL in Ohio, a person must be at least 18-years-old and have a valid Ohio driver’s license, ruling out younger teens who may help out at a family farm.
“I would be opposed to that in our area because of the fact that there are a lot of people under the age of 18 that operate tractors,” said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.
Mincks noted that his department has not responded to any accidents involving farm equipment on public roads in recent years.
Marietta dairy farmer Gale Hartline, 56, said he, too, is opposed to the proposal.
“I think the biggest thing is people are impatient with the slower vehicles,” he said. “I think the general public being more educated on farm equipment would help more than anything.”
Six months in, Congressman sticks to his conservative guns
ATHENS NEWS
BY: David DeWitt
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Poland, has been in office for six months now since unseating former Congressman Charlie Wilson in last November’s race for Ohio’s 6th Congressional District.
The district, which includes most of Athens County, including the city of Athens, snakes along the eastern border of the state.
A retired Air Force veteran, Johnson said in an interview last week that in his previous career he had often worked back and forth with congressional representatives, so he knew a little of what to expect when he came into the job.
“What my focus has been on for the past six months, has been cutting spending, creating jobs and reducing the size of the federal government so that we can get America’s economy back in play,” he said.
Johnson has focused his efforts thus far on the energy industry, he said, because of the energy-related businesses being so important to the economy of the district that follows along the Ohio River.
In his brief time in office, Johnson has introduced several pieces of legislation, including mortgage protections for active-duty members of the U.S. military; a prayer for the World War II memorial; and several pieces of legislation regarding energy policy.
“I was successful in getting an amendment passed in the very first 2011 budget that would prevent the (federal) Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation from rewriting a rule that’s called the spring buffer zone rule,” he said. “That rule rewrite could have potentially destroyed up to 27,000 jobs and cut coal production by about 50 percent across the nation.”
He said that this amendment didn’t pass because the U.S. Senate never took it up, but the language was included in a base bill for the U.S. Department of Interior appropriations.
Johnson also spoke of his role in the ROAD to Jobs Act ROAD being an acronym for Regulatory Openness Accountability and Disclosure.
“That bill will require the president’s council on environmental quality to produce a report at the end of each year that opens up their permitting process to the American people, to show how many permits are in their pipeline, how many permits they approved throughout the year,” he said.
For any permits that are not approved, or are still in the pipeline, he said, the council will be required to show what economic impacts are involved.
“What we’re trying to do is force the regulatory agencies to be truthful with the American people about how their regulatory overreach has a stranglehold on America’s economy and its energy future,” he said. “It is a day-in and day-out battle.”
He blamed the administration of President Barack Obama and Democratic U.S. Senate leaders for stifling various efforts toward the ends he mentioned.
With regard to the biggest issue on Capitol Hill of the day, the nation’s debt ceiling, Johnson said America has a spending problem in Washington.
“America is in debt not because the federal government taxes too little. We’re in debt because the federal government spends too much,” he argued. “And cutting spending, both in discretionary spending and unfunded mandates that have been out there for year, that’s where the problem lies.”
He said that the big question is what happens when the credit limit gets busted and it becomes a choice between paying the bill and letting credit be ruined.
“Most of us are going to pay the bill,” he said. “But we’re going to cut up the credit card and make sure that (it) doesn’t happen again. But we’re going to pay the bill.”
Johnson said that the goal has to be to manage the debt crisis in a fiscally responsible way that will avoid a similar mess in the future.
He called for trillions of dollars in spending cuts, dismissing billions in cuts as not enough.
“I’m going to be looking for trillions of dollars in spending cuts,” he said. “I’m also going to be looking for a balanced budget amendment. And as you’re hearing on the news, there’s a strong move to do that.”
He also called for tax reform to let businesses and individuals keep more of what they earn. He said he would not consider any tax increases as revenue enhancements.
“I don’t believe that increasing taxes on Americans right now and on businesses right now is going to help get our economy started,” he said. “We have a clear history, that when you decrease taxes you get an economic boost because Americans spend more, they invest more, and everybody gets economic confidence.”
He said he doesn’t know what will happen with the debt-limit. He charged that negotiations have fallen apart because of the Obama administration. (The administration has blamed Republicans in Congress, including Johnson, for rejecting a $3 trillion to $4 trillion deficit-reduction agreement that would have included 80 percent spending cuts, 20 percent revenue enhancements.)
“It does us no good to have spending cuts and simultaneously increase taxes on Americans,” Johnson declared. “That defeats the purpose.”
On Tuesday, a bipartisan budget proposal from the so-called “Gang of Six” U.S. senators called for reduction of deficits by nearly $4 trillion over the coming decade. President Obama embraced the plan as time is running out before the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the government’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
Obama said he did not agree with all of the senators’ plan, but his endorsement of its thrust effectively isolates House Republicans who refuse to offer a similar endorsement.
“We have a Democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts and modifications to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare that would strengthen those systems” while also providing new revenues, Obama said.
