HEALTH CARE & PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
We must ensure that every American has access to high-quality, affordable health care.
In spite of progress forged with the Affordable Care Act, healthcare in America is far from where it needs to be. No American should have to choose between having health insurance and paying rent. No family should be forced to choose between buying life-saving medication and buying groceries. And no family should go bankrupt because of an unexpected medical emergency. Unfortunately, too many Americans are forced into these wrenching choices. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed flaws in our public health infrastructure, and it has shined a light on the inequity with which we deliver care. We have a lot of work to do to increase coverage while lowering costs and delivering better outcomes for patients.
In Congress, I am working to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable, world-class medical care by:
Protecting a woman’s right to choose. A woman’s health care decisions should be made between her, her doctor, and her faith – not politicians. With the Dobbs decision and the overturning of Roe, I am horrified by the notion that my daughters have fewer rights than I did at their age. The federal government needs to protect a woman’s right to control her own reproductive health. Full stop. I support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which codifies Roe, and will continue to oppose efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
Lowering the cost of prescription drugs. I was proud to help enact the Inflation Reduction Act which lowers the cost of prescription drugs for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies, caps out-of-pocket expenses, limits the cost of insulin to $35, and more. Cost should never keep somebody from obtaining life-saving medication. In addition, I am pushing for reforms to make improvements in price transparency and increase access to more affordable generic medications.
Expanding health care coverage. The Affordable Care Act was a great start to expanding quality coverage to all Americans, but we still have work to do. I helped pass legislation that reduced premiums for Pennsylvanians and I have worked to protect critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. But we have to do more, which is why I support the Medicare-X Choice Act, which would allow all Americans to buy into a public health insurance plan.
Ending surprise medical bills. I am proud to have been a leader in passing legislation into law that addresses surprise medical bills, finally taking patients out of frustrating financial arguments between providers and insurance companies.
Addressing mental health. We must treat mental health care like health care. That’s why I have led efforts to prevent suicide among our veteran population through the bipartisan IMPROVE Act and supported legislation to expand mental health care services for our students. And through bipartisan bills like the Opioid Workforce Act and the State Opioid Response Grant Act, I am working to expand the availability of quality substance abuse treatment in our
Investing in health care innovation. In addition to expanding coverage, we need to invest in the technologies, treatments, and cures that will keep Americans healthy in the future. So I support legislation that would invest $10 billion in scientific research over the next ten years and foster partnerships between government and the private sector to accelerate progress towards a cure for cancer, treatments for rare diseases, and diagnostics and vaccines for emerging threats like COVID-19. Our community and the Southeast Pennsylvania region is home to cutting-edge health research – we should make the investments needed to deliver game-changing health care breakthroughs.