Mark B. Cohen - Improving The Public's Health

Improving The Public's Health

He cast decisive votes for a smoking ban on the House floor, and in the Pennsylvania Capitol building. He strongly supported the legislative efforts to greatly reduce public exposure to second-hand smoke, and potential for damages from it, supporting both the legislation banning much smoking in restaurants that was enacted in 2008 and the more comprehensive ban previously proposed.

He was the prime sponsor and part author of a chemical right to know bill signed into law by Governor Richard Thornburgh. He then pressured the Thornburgh Administration to implement the bill after a long period of study. His chemical Right to know law was ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court in a lawsuit brought by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, after previously being upheld by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

He helped expose the selling of tainted meat to McDonald's and testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Livestock and Poultry that U.S. food safetylaws should be strengthened.

Saying that "The steady escalation in health care costs today represents a major threat to the continued availability of affordable health care," he introduced a comprehensive 4 bill package—one bill establishing the Health Care Costainment Council, and other bills seeking to create a funding pool for low income health care for those without health insurance, competitive bidding for hospital purchases in excess of $2,500, require substitution of generic drugs for higher priced brand name drugs, and itemized bills for hospital patients—health care reform plan backed by the AFL-CIO in 1985, and held hearings on it in the Labor Relations Committee. Ultimately, the Health and Welfare Committee took jurisdiction, and succeeded in enacting the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, backed by both representatives of labor and business. His former aide Marc Volavka was a staff member, and then, beginning in 1998 executive director, of the Health Care Cost Containment Council, from 1993 through his retirement from state government in 2008.

He was an early supporter of mandated mental health coverage in all health care policies.

He sought state funds to replace eliminated federal funds to protect the health of migrant farm workers.

He opposed legal changes taking away benefits from injured workers, saying "Injured workers do not deserve to be treated like they are leeches on the business community. Injured workers should be treated with dignity and respect."

He helped authorize in 1994 the state-run Northeast Philadelphia Veterans' home, to house and treat ill veterans and their spouses, on the southern edge of Benjamin Rush State Park. He joined Michael Stack, Brendan Boyle and Brian J. O'Neill in 2012 in announcing the construction of "almost three miles of crushed-stone roads for walking and biking that will loop around" the Benjamin Rush State Park and other amenities. As the Secretary of the House State Government Committee in 1975, he had voted to amend, report out of committee and enact the bill into law which created Benjamin Rush State Park. "Efforts have been made for decades to redevelop the park, " The Public Record (newspaper) commented after tersely noting the 2012 announcement of park improvements by the elected officials. "All good things take time."

He was the main force in the House behind the establishment of Pennsylvania's Organ Donation Trust Fund. The law establishing it gave organizations specializing in organ transplantation hospital access to potential organ donors, set up a system of drivers' license identification for each potential organ donor, and publicized the need for organ donation. It became a national model, and the basis for a new national policy during the Clinton Administration. Ultimately, after the death of Governor Robert P. Casey in 2000, the Organ Donation Trust Fund, which took effect March 1, 1995 was named by the legislature, in a bill sponsored by Cohen, as the Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Trust Fund.

To protect the health and safety of Pennsylvania public sector workers under the jurisdiction of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, he introduced a proposed law creating a state-run OSHA system for state and local governmental employees.

He was a co-sponsor of "Disability Awareness Day." He opposed cuts in services to the disabled.

In the 2011-12 legislative session, he serves as a member of the Health Committee, as well as of the Human Services Committee, where he is the Chairman for the Democratic minority members. His committee assignments deal with issues of both public health and private healthcare. They deal with the regulation of each Pennsylvania abortion clinic, hospital, and hospice. They deal with methadone maintenance, substance abuse, and substance dependence. He previously had been a leader of Pennsylvania's efforts to promote organ transplantation, and a leader on behalf of issues affecting health care providers . He was a strong supporter of Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program, and the increase of Pennsylvania's cigarette tax to subsidize medical malpractice insurance for physicians. His chemical right to know legislation for workers and communities was signed into law by Governor Richard Thornburgh in 1984.

An early supporter of requiring insurers to cover telehealth, Cohen found the administration of Governor Tom Corbett praising telehealth for "Access and Convenience," "Quicker/Correct Diagnoses Mean Reduced Healthcare Is Required," "Cost Efficiences," "Increased Independence" for the elderly, "Safety and Security" for healthcare information, "Less Anxiety for Patients," and "Growing Acceptance and Demand," but still hedging on insurance reimbursement, asking "Will the rate of reimbursement be based on face to face appointments, or will it provide a lower rate?"

He has strongly defended the right to choose of Pennsylvania women. He has repeatedly defended the rights of AIDS victims to get state subsidized treatment and to have their privacy protected. He introduced legislation setting up an Office of Environmental Monitoring in Pennsylvania's Health Department to conduct research into cancer clusters and other potential external sources of illnesses.