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.
More than 5 million Americans and counting have now signed up for private coverage through the federal and state health insurance marketplaces, but House Republicans continue to waste time with pointless repeal votes and claiming that they’re going to come up with a health care reform alternative (which is always the same old ideas that don’t address the real issue, and that they never actually put into legislative form).
MESSAGE FROM THE DEMOCRATIC WHIP
Instead of taking action on critical issues, including renewing emergency unemployment insurance, raising the minimum wage, or passing comprehensive immigration reform, House Republicans chose to pursue partisanship over bipartisan solutions. Republicans’ obsession with repealing and or undermining the Affordable Care Act turned a bipartisan and bicameral agreement to permanen
“After twice rejecting a motion by Rep. Jim McGovern earlier this week to allow a vote on a bill by Rep. John Tierney that would pay for the bipartisan fix to the Medicare physician payment formula by responsibly capping the Overseas Contingency Operations after 2016, House Republicans today turned what could have been a moment for progress and compromise into yet another exercise in partisan messaging.
“I was disappointed that House Republicans today blocked a motion by Rep. Jim McGovern to consider Rep. John Tierney’s bill that would permanently fix the Medicare physician payment formula while capping Overseas Contingency Operations well below the Congressional Budget Office’s projections.
“More than 4.2 million Americans have now enrolled in health insurance plans through the federal and state health insurance marketplaces, including more than a million young people between the ages of 18-34.
This week, House Republicans have scheduled their 51st vote to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, instead of taking action on a long list of critical legislation.
MESSAGE FROM THE DEMOCRATIC WHIP
I am disappointed that House Republicans continued their obsession with repealing or undermining the Affordable Care Act this week.
“It is extremely disappointing that House Republicans decided to hold their fiftieth vote to undermine or repeal the Affordable Care Act today.
As House Republicans plan their 50th vote to undermine or repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republican advisors are recognizing that an obsessive focus on taking away important patient protections may not be the smartest message. Sounds kind of like what we’ve been saying… From the Washington Post:
At a time when our country continues to face major challenges to its economy, it is very disappointing that the House returned yesterday for a three-week session with no substantive legislation planned to address those challenges.