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’ve noticed that some outlets are reporting that individuals with pre-existing conditions will now be taken care of under the Senate’s TrumpCare bill. THIS IS NOT ACCURATE. Under the Senate bill, people with pre-existing conditions can STILL be discriminated against, as they would be under the House bill. Here’s how:
Hmm, who wants to write a bill that only 16% of Americans agree with? That the Congressional Budget Office said will provide less coverage and increase prices across the board? Looks like we have two takers: House and Senate Republicans. But don’t take our word for it…
Look we get it. You are super busy—searching for drafts of #TrumpCare, phones ringing off the hook…
But you've waited for so long to see the TrumpCare bill, couldn't you sit down and #ReadTheBill? From the Huffington Post:
The white coats are coming!
Americans don’t want to lose their health coverage? They don’t want to pay more for less care? Americans with pre-existing conditions don’t want to be priced out of the market? That must be why just 16% of Americans believe #TrumpCare is a good idea. From a new NBC/WSJ Poll:
Today, Senate Republicans released their secret TrumpCare bill that they have been hiding behind closed doors, drafting it with no hearings and no input from the American people.
Only about 35% of Americans support the House bill, and [the Senate bill] is in some ways deeper cuts in Medicaid, deeper cuts for tax cuts for the wealthy coming down the line.
Best summary we’ve seen of how no one has seen Senate Republicans’ TrumpCare bill:
https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/877602334657916932
Things on the rise this summer: the temperature and opposition to TrumpCare. In a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, only 35 percent of voters approve of the House TrumpCare bill, which doesn’t bode well for Senate Republicans as they prepare to release their bill tomorrow (after weeks of hiding it behind closed doors). Highlights from the poll, courtesy of Politico:
Mr. Speaker, when someone keeps something secret, it's often because it's embarrassing, or negative, or damaging, or unsupportable.