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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.

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.  


Health Care Related

Yesterday, House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) and House Democrats held a hearing that the House Republicans refuse to hold on the impacts of their legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 

The vote this morning in the Budget Committee underscores how divided Republicans are on their own disastrous repeal bill, which would force Americans to pay more for less. 

I think it's probably the most irresponsible budget I’ve seen and most unrealistic budget I’ve seen, and I doubt very seriously that Republicans on either the Appropriations or the authorizing committees think it can be accomplished or should be accomplished.

I’m pleased to call this hearing to order and to be joined at the dais by Ranking Members Pallone, Neal, and Scott – as well as other House Democrats who are deeply engaged in standing up for Americans’ access to quality, affordable health coverage.

While glaringly short on detail, today’s release by the Trump Administration of its discretionary budget proposals makes clear what we suspected to be true: a Trump budget would embark on the most radical disinvestment in America we’ve ever seen.

If they had proof, it seems to me they would have disclosed it to the Congress, but more importantly to the American people and President Trump would have been happy to do that.

This morning’s headlines show the GOP in disarray now that the consequences of the repeal bill have been unveiled – and it’s clear President Trump is breaking his promise to provide “insurance to everybody.” Here’s a look at how their #PayMoreforLess bill is playing out:

Politico: GOP scrambles after scorching health bill appraisal:

President Trump promised the American people that under the Republican health care plan, there would be “insurance for everybody” that is “much less expensive and much better.”

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) sent a letter today to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) urging Republican leadership to respect the role of the Congressional Budget Office as an independent and nonpartisan arbiter, and urge their members to do the same. 

No matter how Republicans try to spin it, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score released today makes clear that the American people will have to pay more for less under their plan.