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.
We here in the ever-helpful Democratic Whip press shop wanted to clear up any confusion: “skinny repeal” is still repeal without a replacement. Based on a December 2016 CBO Report—here is what skinny repeal could do:
As the Senate gets ready to vote this morning on their bill to repeal the ACA without replacing it, here’s a quick reminder for them on what the impacts of that would be:
The Senate's strong rejection of Senator McConnell's TrumpCare bill ought to signal that it's time for Republicans' partisan games on health care to come to an end.
There is a lot going on today, but I don’t think there is anything going on today that is more important than your testimony.
I'm confident that if they get a bill through, that needle they're going to thread that the President refers to, is not going to be a pretty one for them and a lot of Americans are going to be very, very upset.
The Senate’s vote today highlights the danger to millions of Americans if the Affordable Care Act were to be repealed.
[What Trump’s] frustrated about is the inability of his party to pass a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and/or a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. He should not be surprised. This is not obstruction.
Today, Senate Republicans will vote on the motion to proceed to begin debate on health care legislation.
There are only five legislative days before the August district work period and what do House Republicans have to show for the last seven months? Not much. And press is taking note:
House Republicans finally released their reckless, irrational budget for Fiscal Year 2018 – 94 days past the deadline for the budget process to be completed.