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.
Republicans have controlled both the House and the Senate for four weeks, and their record shows that they have focused on extreme, partisan legislation rather than taking action to help the middle class and all those who aspire to it.
I was proud to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court today in the case of King v. Burwell along with other Members of Congress involved in writing the law in 2010 and with state legislators who participated in decisions on whether to launch state-based marketplaces.
This evening, President Obama laid out a vision of an America that prioritizes a strong and growing middle class.
With one month left for Americans to sign up for health care coverage for 2015, we thought we’d show (in gifs) how Republicans are continuing to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that millions of Americans are benefiting from the affordable, quality health care the law provides.
See below for the first few examples, and click here for the full list.
‘Save American Workers’ – make sure they don't lose purchasing power.
I join in congratulating Dr. Vivek Murthy on his confirmation as U.S. Surgeon General.
Wanted to be sure you saw today's op-ed by House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) on Huffington Post reminding Americans to browse affordable, quality health care plans through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace before the December 15 deadline for coverage beginning January 1.
Across the country, millions of Americans are experiencing the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.
Today’s announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that the growth in health care spending has continued to slow – to the lowest rate since 1960 – demonstrates that the Affordable Care Act is working.
Once again, House Republicans are wasting the taxpayers’ time and money on a partisan lawsuit against the President.