(announcer) (announcer) >>from the nation's capitol, "eye on washington with marilee joyce." a weekly discussion about the federal issues most important to nevada. and now, from washington, d.c., here's marilee joyce. >> well, good day to you, i'm marilee joyce, this is "eye on

washington, d.c. every week "eye on washington" takes you straight to capitol hill for a discussion with nevada's delegation and other leaders about the federal matters that matter to you. today's topic to your good health. we will tell you what one nevada leader is doing on capitol hill on a variety of health measures particularly important to nevada, and he is my guest today, nevada u.s. congressman joe heck. thanks for being here today. >> thank you, marilee. >> we cover health care a lot here on "eye on washington" but care shows with congressman and dr. joe heck. it seems that background in medicine gives him extra insight into the health issues that congress is grappling with right now, and today on "eye on washington," we've got a potpourri of things to cover. we will look at my guest's bill to cover veterans better access to care. we will talk about his support of legislation aimed at addressing the opioid addiction crisis in this country and we

shortage in nevada. while congress has much to do to meet the many needs of our nation's veterans there are two goals it considers most critical, improving access to health care at the va and providing job opportunities for separated service members. so congressman heck, who is also dr. heck, who is also veteran heck, is fighting hard for his bill to allow former medics and corpsmen to work as physician's his physician assistant employment and education act was adopted by the house committee on veterans affairs and can be considered by the full house the congressman partnered with new hampshire u.s. congressman annie kuster on the legislation to establish a five-year pilot program within the va to provide assistance to former medics and corpsmen for education and training as physician's

through the additional va health professional's educational assistance program and other educational assistance programs of the va. those who serve in the pilot program would then have a period of obligated service at the veteran health administration, allowing them to give back to fellow congressmen. now, welcome back first of all. >> thank you. >> i read that the concept for this bill came from a local veteran who served as a physician assistant in the air force? >> yes, so, you know, it is interesting and the whole concept behind physician's assistants began back in the mid 1960's where there was a perceived doctor shortage and the idea was how can we utilize individuals with some prior medical background to help fill that gap. so the first four physician's assistant students were navy corpsmen that entered the program then at duke university. since then the military has really utilized physician's assistants throughout its health care spectrums so we're saying, you know, we have a lot of

from service after being at war for 15 years that have incredible experience. we have a shortage of health care professionals within the va system, why not marry those two things together, give those folks who have the experience not just in providing health care but in the military, the opportunity now to take their training to the next level, become a physician's assistant and give back by taking care of their fellow brothers and sisters at veterans. >> what did las vegans say to you to get t >> they said, look, we have incredible experience not just training we receive at medics and corpsmen but we've been able to use our skills now on the battlefield for several years. we know there is a shortage within the va system. a lot of veterans are looking for jobs as they separate e frm service after coming back from doing their time in uniform. so here is a way for us as veterans to use the skills given to us by the military to take care of veterans so teaming up

opportunity to say, yes, there is a need within the va. here is a ready, willing and capable pool of individuals that with just a little bit more training could be able to fill that void within the va and that's what it is all about. it is about giving access to health care to the veterans that have served this country, the health care they have earned and that they deserve. >> tell how it has benefitted the physician's assistants themselves to the many and as well with the veterans who are actually getting that care? >> sure. there is just natural camaraderie, so when you have somebody who has worn the uniform and served they have a better understanding from that first-hand experience about what that veteran may have gone through that they are now taking care of. so it is really a perfect marriage of people with incredible skills and capabilities, a willingness to keep on serving and understanding of what veterans go through now taking care of veterans. >> what kind of skil do they have that they don't need to, now in other words someone else might have to learn whereas they

>> sure, a greater understanding of how to interact with patients and complete a physical examination. one thing to learn through books and school how to touch somebody and complete a physical exam but another thing to lay hands on a live patient so these medic and corpsmen have gone through that process. they have used skills. >> plus they have the camaraderie with the veterans as well? >> and they've used their skills under some of the most trying and stressful circumstances on the battlefield. so they are battle tested. they are know well how to utilize their skills in very difficult situations, and so it brings i think an added level of capability in taking care of our veterans. >> as a congressman, as a doctor, as a veteran, this bill has special meaning for you, doesn't it? >> it does. i mean obviously one of my primary goals here in congress is to not just take care of our active military and their families but make sure the veterans get the care and benefits they earn and deserve from their service in uniform so

opportunities where you take care of those who are separating from service, who have got great skills, to take care of those who have already separated and are seeking care in the veterans administration health care system. >> what do you hear from the department itself, what is the va saying about this bill? >> they are very supportive about the bill because right now 25% of the physician's assistants positions within the veterans administration are unfilled. so this is an opportunity to fill those slots with people that understand what it is like to have served in uniform already come in with a great take much to get them trained up to the physician's assistant level and then put them to work taking care of veterans. >> the bill should be a slam dunk. who would oppose this? >> it passed out of the committee unanimously so we are hoping to bring it to the floor soon. >> sounds good. and when we return, the congressman's effort to help end opioid abuse and addiction just congressman's effort to help end opioid abuse and addiction just ahead. (announcer) >>you're watching "eye on washington with marilee joyce."

so they say it's a man's world? i don't see anybody's name on it. while they were doing their thing... we slowly changed all that. today women can do anything men can do.

>> welcome back to "eye on washington," our look at some top health care concerns in nevada and what is being done on the hill to meet them. my guest today is nevada u.s. congressman joe heck the opioid endemic is destroying families and communities and we must take action. that's what congressman heck told the press in may as he lauded the house passage of a series of bills aimed at combating the opioid abuse and addiction crisis and he can

as we've told you the congressman also is a doctor and served as an emergency department physician. he has witnessed the devastating effects of opioid addiction and overdose and he is fighting hard for the bills which aim to help prevent and treat opioid addiction and ensure the nation's drug laws are strengthened to stop the flow of drugs into the united states and protect infants exposed to illegal drugs before birth. looks like the legislation couldn't be more needed, according to the american society of addiction, medication cause of accidental death in the u.s. in 2014 the country had 47,055 lethal overdoses and, congressman, the society says opioid addiction is driving this endemic with 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, 10,574 overdose deaths related to heroin and you with been a big advocate of these bills for some time.

are the leading cause of accidental death nationally, and nevada is the third worst in the country when it comes to that. over the five-year period from 2010 to 2014 we saw the heroin overdose death rate increase by 270% in our state. this is a critical issue that i've seen firsthand working in hospital emergency departments and working alongside our paramedics so the house has taken an approach we want to try to prevent, treat and rehabilitate those who are afflicted by this epidemic, and bills that have been passed. first in trying to prevent we've increased penalties for drug trafficking, trying to decrease access to the precursor chemicals that are used to make drugs and trying to increase educational awareness to try to stop people from getting addicted to begin with. the second phase is to treat them for those that do fall prey to the very drastic epidemic we are now facing. so there is increased grant programs for treatment programs

not just those that are addicted personally but there is a big issue with a problem called neonatal abstinence syndrome where babies born to addicted moms go through this withdrawal process that can be very harmful to them, and then lastly we want to rehabilitate those after they have been treated to supporting things like drug courts, getting people into residential substance abuse and rehabilitation programs. so the house approach has been wholistic in trying to make sure we address all three areas of then rehabilitate those that have become addicted. >> i know you don't have a crystal ball, but what is the success rate of programs like these? >> it depends on how well the person actually gets engaged with their own rehabilitation program so that's why drug courts are important for somebody who may have committed a crime while under the influence or due to a drug addiction to give them an opportunity to be rehabilitated from their addiction rather than go to jail. making sure that they are

residential group home and those that go through the process actually have a low recidivism rate or relapse rate. however, we see unfortunately most people don't complete the process and they drop out prior to going through their entire rehabilitation. >> you know, it is scary, the society figures that i mentioned frightening, and we are talking at least 30,000 overdose deaths related to just prescription pain relievers and heroin. how serious is the problem in nevada? >> i think nevada has a problem that far exceeds what the national average is. >> for instance? >> we've seen again just for the five-year period from 2010 to 2014, our heroin overdose fatality rate increased by 270%. what happens is we see people become addicted to prescription painkillers and then when they can no longer get their prescription sometimes they move over to heroin because it is easier to obtain and cheaper. so there is a problem of not

drug trade but we have to address it in the prescription abuse problem as well. >> how do we address doctors who might be -- is there under the counter, some payments, is there -- how are the people getting these? >> we've seen especially up in reno recently there was a raid that was performed on what was considered a prescription mill where people just go in and they pay a fee and get a prescription for drug primarily prescription painkillers. programs that we have within the state of nevada that are put in place by the pharmacy board where physicians are supposed to go into the computerized system before they write a prescription for a narcotic to see whether or not that patient has been doctor shopping and moving for -- from doctor to doctor to try to get a prescription refilled or even the pharmacist was supposed to check before they filled the prescription to make sure that the patient isn't going from pharmacy to pharmacy. so there are safeguards in place as long as they are utilized.

what is the punishment for doctors or pharmacies that provide -- >> there are criminal penalties so in the case recently in reno criminal charges will be brought against those that were involved, and certainly there is a potential loss for licensure both for the physician and for the pharmacist if they were knowingly engaged in that type of activity through their respective boards of licensing. >> and when we return, waiting months and months to see your doctor? the congressman has a bill he wait time.

>> and welcome back to "eye on washington," and our look at top health care concerns in nevada and what is being done on the hill to meet them. my guest today has been nevada u.s. congressman joe heck. the congressman was called away to a committee hearing during our taping, but we're going to spend this segment talking about another bill that he supports. well, i do hope that you don't these days it takes forever and that's almost literally to see your orthopedic surgeon. according to a 2014 article in vegas, inc., nevada is severely short in both generalists and specialists. in fact, the state ranks 40th for ob-gyn's, 46th lowest for family practice doctors and pediatricians, 50th for psychiatric physicians and

need for that bad knee, and congressman heck wants to shorten your wait time. he is the coauthor of bipartisan legislation that would create a federal grant program for states to fund residency programs. his creating access to residency education or care act would allow the grant program to either create new residency programs or increase slots in existing ones. and he says it is greatly needth american medical colleges says 47.4% of physicians nationwide stay or return to practice where they completed their residency. and before we did this show, the congressman told "eye on washington" that he thought that by expanding residency programs or increasing positions in existing programs, we might go a long way toward addressing the care gaps for states like nevada.

to visit a previously aired mail bag that w to congressman heck and we will see what he had to

>> and we are back with the closing segment of today's "eye on washington." it is our mailbag segment. it's when we read your letter, a letter you have sent to the mailbag page of our joyce communications website. we read it right on the air and we ask our guest to respond to you right here. and, congressman, we have a letter to you today from jasper t. he writes, dear congressman heck, i've seen a lot about the section 179 deduction for

what do you say to jasper? >> yeah, jasper, that's a great question because we just worked on that very provision. the section 179 deduction allows a business to expense or write off 100% of a certain amount of equipment or real estate or something that they need to help run their business. so it's a tax write-off for businesses. for many years, that was set at a certain level. and it was recently increased as part of the stimulus package. but it was only increased for a one-year period. so every year businesses wld buy something in july, whether or not they'd be able to write it off because the decision wasn't being made by the federal government until december. and so what we recently did was we made that increased part 179 deduction permanent at the higher level. so now businesses have predictability, they have stability. and the thing is every time a business goes out and buys a big-ticket item, that helps increase the economy throughout the community. helps create more jobs. it's money being invested in our local area. so this is a win-win not just

gets the tax write-off and then gets to reinvest that money. >> make a better plan as well, right? >> give another job or another employer a pay raise, but also helps create more jobs throughout the community. >> and they can better plan because now they -- >> they will know. they want to decide -- they see a sale on a piece of equipment in july, they can buy it knowing they will get that tax write-off. >> thanks for being here today. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. see you soon. and that is it for this week's "eye on washington." i hope you will join us next time as we discuss more important federal matters and their impact on nevada. you can visit joycecommunications. to our facebook page for more news that impacts you in nevada. and watch any shows you have missed on the youtube page of our site. thanks for joining us today on "eye on washington." i'm marilee joyce here in washington, d.c. i hope you have a great day

>> announcer: if you're looking to make more money and take control of your personal and financial future, then get ready, because than merrill, the star of a&e's hit tv show "flip this house," one of the most successful real-estate investors in the country and america's number-one one heck of an opportunity for you. than is hosting a one-of-a-kind free two-hour real-estate wealth-building workshop where you will learn his three-step system for getting started flipping homes and buying and holding income properties. than and his team are currently looking for a small group of motivated individuals who want to work directly with his team and learn the exact step-by-step system he's used to flip hundreds of properties over the past decade. at this event, you will learn