Healthcare
I am committed to preserving hard-fought for reforms to our health system.
Affordable Medications
As the Chair and Founder of the House Affordable Prescription Drug Task Force, I am committed to bringing more oversight and transparency to drug pricing and supporting legislative and administrative solutions so that more families can afford the medicine they need.
High drug prices are not a problem with one pharmaceutical manufacturer, one class of drugs, or one disease—this problem is widespread.While we have made advances in research and treatment, an unaffordable drug is 100 percent ineffective.Drugs developed with public funding should be available -- and affordable -- to the public. The President has the authority to ensure taxpayer-funded drugs are affordable by authorizing generic competition that would lower prices. I am also sponsoring multiple pieces of legislation that would allow Medicare to use its purchasing power to lower drug costs for seniors and taxpayers through negotiation, fight anti-competitive pay-for-delay deals, and promote transparency throughout the drug development and pricing process.
Protecting Health Insurance Reform
I remain committed to preserving the hard-fought reforms that provided health insurance to millions through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), resisting those who seek to repeal, defund, or sabotage the ACA.I voted against dozens of Republican repeal efforts because it would remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions; bring back lifetime and annual caps on care; allow states to remove essential health benefits -- like maternity care and mental health services; and take almost a trillion dollars out of Medicaid. Most every health care professional group came out to condemn this travesty – I stood with the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, and families around our Nation in opposition to these cruel efforts, and will continue to oppose the Republican lawsuit to dismantle the ACA.
Defending Reproductive Rights
As a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, with a 100% pro-choice voting record, I oppose efforts to block access to comprehensive reproductive care and fully support measures that help protect women's health. The Republican-controlled activist Supreme Court outrageously overturned five decades of precedent protecting the right to privacy and choice. This injustice must become the fuel for greater engagement to ensure that healthcare choices are made only by consulting a doctor and loved ones, not politicians or unelected judges. Denying a right to choose—including in cases of rape, incest, or dangerous health risks, is unconscionable. Women in Texas face some of the most extreme barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare in the country.
I sponsored the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would restore the right to access abortion and make unlawful many of the types of politically motivated restrictions that take away a woman's ability to choose quality reproductive care. I also sponsored the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act, which protects access to reproductive care for public health insurance beneficiaries, federal employees, and in federal health services. I have consistently rejected Republicans' anti-choice amendments and riders on appropriation bills, have strongly opposed Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in their healthcare repeal bills, and will continue to support efforts to improve access to reproductive services. I will continue working hard to protect a woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions.
Healthcare for Seniors
For several decades, Social Security and Medicare have been a lifesaving safety net for our seniors, protecting their physical and financial well-being, and providing well-earned peace of mind after a lifetime of work.
Just over fifty years after President Johnson first signed Medicare into law, the program continues to provide necessary health services for so many across our country. As a recent recipient of two national legislative awards from AARP, which recognized my initiatives on healthcare and efforts to ensure seniors' access to healthcare, I continue working to defend, strengthen and improve Medicare, a pillar of retirement security.
Protecting seniors also means protecting them from fraud. My Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act,which requires the removal of Social Security numbers from Medicare cards, was enacted into law. With identity thieves becoming increasingly sophisticated, a little prevention can prevent a lot of heartache.Seniors who have worked a lifetime building their financial security deserve better protection.
My AARP-endorsed bipartisan NOTICE Act was signed into law.NOTICE does just what its name suggests: it gives patients notice when they are about to be billed personally after being categorized as "under observation" in the hospital.Currently, a hospital may either admit a patient as an "inpatient" or keep the patient "under observation." While the distinction is often impossible to determine, particularly by the beneficiary, the cost can be extreme if expensive skilled nursing home care is required.
Social Security
Social Security isn't a Ponzi scheme or a handout. It is one of our most successful initiatives, providing security for tens of millions of seniors. In eight decades, Social Security has never been a day late or a dollar short. It has never contributed a dime to the deficit and has generated a $2.79 trillion surplus. With modest improvements to ensure its long-term solvency, Social Security will be there for our grandchildren.