so yes, the $85.5 billion in improper payments is a big deal, but it's also a big deal that federal agencies are not doing their jobs and allowing billions of dollars to be squandered. h.h.s. has the tools already at its disposal to prevent these improper payments such as verifying the location of the position offices and making sure providers are licensed. my colleagues and i also must remain vigilant and ensure h.h.s. is fully utilizing its resources to crack down on improper payments and bad actors within medicaid. it is -- we are elected, it is our responsibility to come here and make sure we're doing everything we possibly can to make these agencies cost-effective and efficient and not some bureaucratic nightmare that we have to come down here every week and talk about, about how taxpayer dollars have been wasted. so initially i said our goal was $100 billion. we're way past that now. we're 200 and somewhere. with this, we add another $85.5 billion, and our chart can't accommodate it. we thought we would end up right here. then we ended up -- then we went to $200 billion. this is just within this one cycle of congress. and now we have to add -- we had to velcro this

the chief of staff of h.h.s. came before the ways and means committee and we had an extensive discussion on co-ops and cooperative health and numerous others that have failed. more importantly, it is crucial to establish the record on the risk corridor. the gentleman from washington stated that it's republicans who designed this to fail. number one, that republicans are not response initial design of any part of this. interestingly enough, we were told by the administration, in fact the administration is on record that the risk corridor program was intended to be operated on a revenue neutral basis. that is risk corridor payments would be offset by payments collected by other insurers. congress simply acted and i would add on a bipartisan basis, to codify that very statement. in fact, i would like to ask unanimous consent to include in the record an april, 2014, memo from c.m.f. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: for medicare and medicaid services explaining how risk corridor funds would be rov

in the fiscal year h.h.s. appropriations bill there is a $120 million increase for programs fighting opioid abuse. in bills passed by the committee funding to address heroin-opioid abuse is more than double than last year's levels. however, i also know that this problem cannot be solved by simply throwing money at it. i look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop additional policies to tackle these problems. we must consider all options. the outcomes are sad. i personally know families who have been personally affected by this. i think everybody does. if you're in a town hall meeting and you ask for a show of hands, who has a story, who knows somebody, from their church, their children's friends, almost every -- every hand in the meeting will go up. we need to work with state and local officials to learn what's working and what is not. and i will keep fighting also for an additional issue, a side issue, and just as important, our veterans who rely on the v.a. programs to hel

it made the situation worse. a recent h.h.s.-o.i.g. report found that the remaining co-ops are becoming -- mr. smith: i yield an additional one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for an additional one minute. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. the additional co-ops that remain, those that were covered in this h.h.s.-o.i.g. report, are becoming unstable, financially insolvent, they are looking as if they too are going to go the way of the others that have failed. not only does the failure of co-ops waste tax dollars, it leaves individuals in the lurch. i am pleased that this legislation is coming before us . it implements our committee's recommendation by insuring that individuals -- ensuring that individuals who make a good-faith effort to comply with the individual mandate are not further punished as a result of a co-op's failure. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i yield myself one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: as we

the dietary guidelines. which usda works cooperatively with h.h.s. so i've been at meetings on food and agriculture where there are virtually no medical people in the room and vice versa. so it's no -- it's not rocket science to understand if people aren't talking to each other about these issues, then people get kind of stuck in their own ways of thinking and they don't realize that these are in fact the political aspects are complicated. we have to do that much more han we have in the past. >> we do work very cooperatively, certainly since i've been there. i don't know if this was started under howard's tenure on developing a research agenda. we have -- we, h.h.s., through my office, and usda, have a shared work group that's interagency. we are working on going further upstream on the scientific agenda that needs to be developed. and in some cases are looking, as we've published in that research agenda at climate impacts and food sustainability, to try to understand that better and build a scientific agenda. we need to work together. the usda throug

working with the department of justice, h.h.s. should use all the tools it has to recover any overpayments. as i mentioned, in 2009 -- so we've asked specifically about epipen. well, mylan paid almost $120 million -- i don't think this has been that well-known -- back in 2009 to correct a misclassification of drugs. that was in 2009. now we found out with epipen, which is about 10% of their profit, that this has been misclassified for years and years and years. misclassification is just one way the government and, as a result, taxpayers are paying more than necessary for prescription drugs. one thing is absolutely clear: we must act now to make the cost of prescription drugs more affordable for all americans. there is not one silver bullet that will fix the problem across the board, but there are some commonsense solutions to address the problem. today i'm going to offer four such solutions, any one of which would provide real relief. but the combest way is to -- but the best way to to do all of them. the first is, i mentioned cana

the funding." end quote. dr. fauci also emphasized that other vital h.h.s. and national institutes of health programs will suffer if the agency is forced to focus funding primarily on vaccine development. already the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases diverted funds from tuberculosis and malaria research to fund zika efforts. those programs are now suffering. while congress has been away the administration has been forced to rob vital research programs focusing on ebola and cancer. earlier this month secretary burwell announced h.h.s. will transfer another $81 million from other advanced research programs at n.i.h. and biomedical research and development authority to continue zika vaccine development. it's unconscionable that we're forcing our public health officials to make these kinds of decisions. madam president, funding of n.i.h. has always been a bipartisan priority, and yet here we're not making the money available, requiring money to be diverted from other important n.i.h. products and inadequately funding a response to a public hea

the a.c.a. remain. that is why h.h.s. is taking steps to address these problems. and congress has a duty to look for policy solutions that improve everyone's access to the best care available and to make that care affordable. there are real ways that congress can provide stability to the health care marketplace. and i urge my colleagues to bring some of these solutions to the floor. i was proud to vote for the a.c.a., and when the majority is ready to get serious, i will be proud to vote for commence improvements and reforms to the law. the american public has spoken and they will not return to the days before health care reform. it is time for congress to listen to the american people. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton, for five minutes. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to acknowledge the fact that september is suicide prevention month. suicide prevention awareness month. this gives all of us a chance to come together to promote awareness about the issue of suic

that i think would be most important that we have asked for, it does require legislation, is the ability for h.h.s. to actually negotiate. to negotiate on high cost and specialty. not all drugs. but just to negotiate in that space so we can use tools. right now last year f.d.a. approved more generic drugs than it had in the history of f.d.a. right now f.d.a. wants to help people understand how to work through the generic process. you can get faster approvals if you are a first time generic. we use the tools we have. but one of the most important tools we could gain is an ability to negotiate. hat we don't have right now. certainly these drugs are being paid for by medicaid or medicare. in certain cases. so that's where we would have ability. mr. karl: i want to give you a chance. you have this incredible job. it's one of the most complicated jobs in the federal government. i have spent a fair amount of time thinking about the future of health care. there is so much, siting happening. -- exciting happening. in temples treatment, in temples technology. what is the most gotcha excited right now? secr

but in every community we face these, and at the same time when you look like at the h.h.s., an agency like the national institutes of health, we want them -- to keep the lights on so that they can keep the light of hope going on to make sure we find cures for disease. we'll say more about this. we appreciate the republican -- the majority leader for continuing conversation with us. we've taken -- we are a work in progress. let's get back to work. let's continue to make progress. we've taken steps forward. let's not take steps sideways or take steps backward. let's continue making progress. let's get rid of the poison pill riders. let's come to an agreement on how we can help louisiana and help flint and resolve some of these other issues. so, mr. president, we look forward to more conversation, more constructive conversation, and our side of the aisle stands ready to engage in those conversations and negotiates. and i urge my colleagues to kind of be on stand-by to wish us well so that we keep doing the job we were elected to do. mr. president, i have concluded my remarks. is it -- do

but in every community we face these, and at the same time when you look like at the h.h.s., an agency like the national institutes of health, we want them -- to keep the lights on so that they can keep the light of hope going on to make sure we find cures for disease. we'll say more about this. we appreciate the republican -- the majority leader for continuing conversation with us. we've taken -- we are a work in progress. let's get back to work. let's continue to make progress. we've taken steps forward. let's not take steps sideways or take steps backward. let's continue making progress. let's get rid of the poison pill riders. let's come to an agreement on how we can help louisiana and help flint and resolve some of these other issues. so, mr. president, we look forward to more conversation, more constructive conversation, and our side of the aisle stands ready to engage in those conversations and negotiates. and i urge my colleagues to kind of be on stand-by to wish us well so that we keep doing the job we were elected to do. mr. president, i have concluded my remarks. is it -- do