Newsletters
January 7, 2016
It's Time To Stop the EPA's Overreach
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is one of the most powerful and most feared regulatory agencies in the country. What was originally intended to be an agency with a relatively modest charter has become much more powerful. The EPA is now claiming unrestrained authority to issue regulations that have major negative consequences for the American economy with little or no accountability to Congress.
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November 30, 2015
The EPA is out of control. Because of this, I have introduced The Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2015. This bill would remove the ability of the EPA to regulate so-called “greenhouse gasses,” an authority the EPA assumed after Massachusetts v. EPA, a controversial 5-4 Supreme Court decision handed down in 2007 which interpreted the Clean Air Act to allow regulations of common and necessary compounds that were not contemplated when the act was originally passed.
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October 30, 2015
For our founding fathers, life was the first right. They understood that there is an order to things that even nature teaches us. They understood and fully embraced that the first and foremost right is life, because without life, there is no liberty. Without life, there is no pursuit of happiness. Without life, there is no discussion of a right to privacy or a right to choose, because without life, there is nothing to choose. Life presupposes and precedes all other rights. That is why the right to life is fundamental to everything I believe.
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September 23, 2015
Palmer Opposes Iran Deal
Iran presents a major threat to the U.S., to Israel, and to other allies in the region. Iranian politicians have threatened to wipe Israel "off the map," and the Iranian government continually funnels money to terrorist organizations that threaten Israel and the U.S. every day. For a number of years now, Iran has been seeking nuclear weapons, and the U.S., Israel, and our allies have been seeking to stop them.
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August 17, 2015
Palmer Bill Prompts CMS to Create Grace Period for New Coding System
The Protecting Patients and Physicians Against Coding Act, H.R. 2652, a bill I introduced to protect patients against a new federal coding mandate, is already paying dividends. The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) announced that it will institute a one-year transition period to ICD-10, the medical diagnostic system tied to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. While H.R. 2652 would mandate a two-year transition period, this decision by CMS is a welcome announcement that moves the ball in the right direction. This system, which is a five-fold increase in coding, threatens to disrupt access to health care in rural areas and create major problems for smaller practices.
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June 18, 2015
Palmer Introduces Bill to Protect Access to Healthcare for Small Towns and Rural Areas
Protecting patient access to health care is very important. Unfortunately, access to health care, especially in small towns and rural areas, is now threatened by the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, known as ICD-10. ICD-10, which will be implemented in just a few months, is the newest version of the medical coding system, which includes 55,000 more physician diagnostic codes than ICD-9, as well as 87,000 additional procedural codes. While ICD-10 is an international system, the U.S. is the only country in the world that ties it directly to reimbursement via Medicare and Medicaid. This means that ICD-10 has the potential to disrupt medical practices that have fewer resources to implement this massive new coding system.
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May 18, 2015
The 114th Congress recently passed the 100-day mark, and people often ask what has been the biggest surprise. Truthfully, I have spent enough time in Washington DC on policy issues that there have been very few surprises. However, one thing that has impressed me is finding a real desire among many of my colleagues to tackle the serious issues facing our nation, and a desire to restore Constitutional balance of powers.
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