Health Care
House Democrats are committed to expanding access to quality, affordable health care coverage, strengthening protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and lowering prescription drug prices and the cost of health care overall.
Under President Biden and Congressional Democrats, the uninsured rate is at an all-time low. While Republicans vote against legislation to lower health care costs, House Democrats are working to bring down the overall costs of health care and increase access to health care coverage.
With the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, House Democrats took direct action to reduce health care costs for millions of Americans. For the first time, Medicare will be able to negotiate prescription drug prices for high-cost drugs. The law also caps out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients at $2,000 annually and establishes a $35 cap for a month’s supply of insulin. The Inflation Reduction Act also protects progress made under President Biden to expand access to quality, affordable health care coverage by continuing the expanded premium tax credits originally passed in the American Rescue Plan, which lowered health care premiums for millions of working families.
This built upon the Affordable Care Act – enacted by President Obama and Congressional Democrats in 2010 – that has put American families in control of their own health care and ended a system that put profits ahead of patients. Since its enactment, 35 million Americans have gained access to quality, affordable health coverage. Americans with pre-existing conditions can no longer be discriminated against by insurance companies. Parents can now keep their children on their insurance plans up to age twenty-six. Insurance companies are no longer allowed to put annual or lifetime limits on coverage or drop people when they get sick. Additionally, thanks to the law, Medicare costs – from premiums and deductibles to overall program spending – have slowed to well below the levels projected before the law passed.
These reforms were crucial, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic struck but more action was needed. That’s why House Democrats worked to enact legislation right away - without any Republican support - to ensure that testing, treatment, and vaccinations for COVID-19 would be covered with no out-of-pocket costs to Americans.
House Democrats remain committed to the goal of affordable, accessible health care for all.
Another day, another statement of opposition to TrumpCare – this time coming from the Medicaid Directors from all 50 states.
Well, we can't say we're surprised. For a bill that takes health care away from millions of Americans, slashes Medicaid, imposes an age tax on older Americans, and makes coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions unaffordable, it’s no wonder only 24% of Americans approve of Republicans’ latest version of TrumpCare.
While Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans prepare to bring their latest TrumpCare bill to the Floor next week, editorial boards across the country are voicing strong opposition to the legislation – which would be even worse for families than previous versions – and urging Senators to oppose it.
As Senate Republicans pursue their latest version of TrumpCare, a wide-range of organizations, including providers, patient and consumer advocates, hospitals, and insurers are voicing their opposition.
It is deeply disappointing that Senate Republicans would abandon the bipartisan Murray-Alexander effort to stabilize our health care markets.
Remember the “Jimmy Kimmel test” that Senator Bill Cassidy himself created?
Add a bipartisan group of governors to the list of those who are opposing Senate Republicans’ latest TrumpCare bill.
We have some news for all of the Republican Senators who have expressed concern about Americans with pre-existing conditions: the latest TrumpCare bill won’t protect them.
As zombie TrumpCare comes back to life once again, our Senate Republican friends should be aware that this latest version doesn’t address any of the issues they were concerned about before.
American families and their health care providers are sick and tired of the unnecessary uncertainty caused by Congressional Republicans’ obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act.