Health Care
All Americans should have comprehensive, affordable, quality health care as a fundamental right. The Affordable Care Act, which I voted for in 2010, has been a major step in the right direction. It has expanded health coverage and protected patients, no matter how you get your insurance. However, we have more work to do to reduce costs, including out-of-control prescription drug costs, and to further improve the quality of care.
In Congress, I strongly oppose efforts to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, weaken Medicaid for vulnerable Americans, or endanger Medicare for seniors today and in the future. I strongly support creating a public option in our health care system, efforts to address health disparities, and policies that will address the rise of prescription drug costs. We must also do more to ensure all Americans have access to mental and behavioral health services. To fulfill our goal of a true universal health care system, I have proposed the America’s Right to Health Care Amendment, which would enshrine a fundamental right to health care in our Constitution.
More on Health Care
Madam Speaker, beyond the walls of this Capitol there are millions of Americans who can't afford health insurance, and they live in fear of getting sick. Millions more are discriminated against by insurance companies because they have pre-existing medical conditions. In my own life, as a child and as an adult, I have lived without health insurance. A dear, dear niece of mine has a pre-existing condition that makes her uninsurable. Passing health insurance reform is not a polit
Contact: Maria Reppas, (202) 225-6631 / (202) 527-0149 maria.reppas@mail.house.gov
U.S. House - White House Agreement to Address Medicare Geographic Payment Inequities and Reward Value in Care
Non-Partisan Congressional Budget Office Finds Proposal Will Cut Federal Deficit by $130 Billion
Contact: Maria Reppas, (202) 225-6631 / (202) 527-0149 maria.reppas@mail.house.gov
Contact: Maria Reppas, (202) 225-6631 / (202) 527-0149 maria.reppas@mail.house.gov
No one should be forced to lose their health insurance when they need it the most or be faced with bankruptcy trying to pay for health care. Unfortunately, we have a system today where insurance companies, not patients, are making those decisions.
Insurance companies have been using lifetime and annual limits since the 1970s to limit the total dollars in benefits that they will pay out over a year or the lifetime of a patient.
Rising health care costs and inadequate coverage burden many Americans. The current system lets insurance companies penalize a woman, just for being a woman.
It is unfair and it is wrong, plain and simple, that a woman can be charged a higher premium than a man or be denied coverage for a "pre-existing condition" such as pregnancy, having a c-section, or being a domestic violence victim.
An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, and 85% of domestic violence victims are women.
Let me give you one example.
Dear Friends,
Our nation's health care system is broken, and it needs to be fixed. Tens of millions of American are uninsured, underinsured, or afraid of losing their coverage. Insurance companies continue to squeeze families by increasing health premiums and reducing coverage. Unless you are an insurance company or a Republican Member of Congress this is the time for action. It is time to pass health care reform.