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.
Instead of focusing on jobs, Republicans have wasted today on yet another repeal of the Affordable Care Act and are offering no replacement, despite their promises to do so. A look at today’s headlines shows we aren’t the only ones who noticed:
Politico Pro:DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
“‘Repeal it and replace it.’ For the 31st time we have a repeal with no replacement. No alternative. No protection offered by my Republican colleagues. Not one. You could of course introduce legislation that said, ‘we're going to repeal and replace with this.’ You haven't done it. You haven't done it. So the American people have no idea.
“Millions of people are going to lose protections they now have and insurance companies are going to be put back in charge if this were to become law. But Republicans know this isn’t going to become law – it’s not going to pass the Senate and the President’s not going to sign it. So once again we are spending time… doing things for political purposes, not for policy purposes, and not addressing the creation of jobs which is our number one priority.”
“With millions still out of work and families struggling to make ends meet, Republicans are responding by voting to take away critical health care protections. Polls show a clear majority of Americans want Congress to move on from the health care issue and spend time focusing on creating jobs and moving our economic recovery forward.
“The Republican party continues to pursue its message and not substance. This is the 31st time we've voted on repealing the health care bill and it's the 31st time that it will fail. Everybody knows that the President is committed to it – he’s not going to sign that bill if it passes; but they also know the Senate is not going to pass that bill. It's about politics and not policy. Very frankly, if it passed and if it became law, literally millions of millions of Americans would lose benefits they already have - young people would be kicked off their family's insurance policy; pre-existing conditions would now be used by the insurance company to keep children from getting health care insurance; seniors in the ‘donut hole’ would be again placed in a position where they may not be able to afford prescription drugs they need to keep their life healthy.
This week, Republicans are taking their 31st vote this Congress to repeal or defund the landmark health reform law, arguing to take away health care benefits from millions of Americans. Rather than wasting time on the same political show votes over and over, Republicans ought to be focusing on the issues most important to Americans – creating jobs and growing our economy.
After a week focused on political theater rather than jobs, Democrats are more than ready to work on the issues most important to the American people – getting more people back to work and restoring our economy. House Republicans? That’s another story, as they have already scheduled a political show vote on repealing the health reform law—instead of focusing on jobs and the economy.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, but Republicans have vowed to once again attempt to repeal this groundbreaking legislation that has put Americans – not insurance companies – in charge of their own health care. This law strengthens and protects Medicare and preserves the Medicare guarantee for our nation’s seniors. Americans have already experienced numerous benefits from the health care reform law, including insurance companies no longer being able to discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions, seniors in the Medicare donut hole paying at least 50 percent less for their brand name drugs, and Americans with private insurance no longer being arbitrarily dropped from their plans when they get sick. When the law is fully implemented, Americans will have access to affordable health care coverage.
Editorial boards from across the country are weighing in on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act and there’s clearly a consensus: this law is already helping millions of Americans, and yesterday’s ruling ensures that will continue and expand. Here’s an overview:
“We thought the bill was constitutional. The Supreme Court has said it’s constitutional. It's within our powers and we think the American public can be more secure today than they were yesterday with the assurance that they're going to have access to affordable, quality health care.”