Media

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, released a statement regarding tonight’s release of the Calendar Year 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which includes a modest expansion of dental coverage for Medicare beneficiaries—as Rep. Doggett has pressed for. He said:

Austin, T.X. – As Texas remains the most uninsured state and thousands of our neighbors lack health insurance, Wednesday, October 26, at 10 AM, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, will join Foundation Communities, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), Travis County Judge Andy Brown, and Council Member Vanessa Fuentes to share resources for Central Texans at the start of Open Enrollment, when families can sign up to get Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage. Open enrollment for 2023 Health Insurance Marketplace plans runs from November 1, 2022 to January 15, 2023.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock), and a bipartisan group of 24 other Texas members of Congress pressed the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to make a necessary update to a federal administrative exemption that allows Texas to continue to support cost-effective school construction in the state—and avert a potential November 2022 cutoff of funding which could cost school districts hundreds of millions of dollars.

Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month on October 1st, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, spoke at the National Domestic Violence Hotline 25th Anniversary celebration in Washington, alongside Senator Bob Casey, Hotline CEO Katie Ray-Jones, and virtual remarks from President Joe Biden. After the anniversary celebration was delayed for a year due to the pandemic, this joyful reunion honored the many Hotline workers and volunteers in Austin and nationwide for their dedicated service and marked over six million contacts connected with life-saving and life-changing support.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee’s markup yesterday and approval of, HR 3655, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Modernization Act.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, and U.S. Representative Nanette Barragán (D-CA) led 107 Members in submitting comments supporting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rule to expand Medicare coverage for medically necessary dental care. The Members welcomed CMS’s proposal and encouraged the agency to expand coverage even further to the broadest range of services possible.

Washington, D.C. –  U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Task Force on Aging & Families, led over 30 Members in responding to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Request for Information on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Taxpayers spend an average of $1,538 more per beneficiary in Medicare Advantage than would have otherwise been spent by Traditional Medicare—amounting to $12 billion in overpayments in a single year. Despite this significant cost, regulators have received numerous complaints regarding access to care and quality of coverage under MA. The Members urge significant reforms to prevent delays and medically unnecessary restrictions on access to care, rein in aggressive marketing tactics, reduce waste of billions of taxpayer dollars in overpayments, and to terminate the ACO REACH program, which unwillingly places beneficiaries in arrangements similar to Medicare Advantage.