Healthcare |
Health care reform has been a top priority during the 111th Congress. One of the first votes I cast was to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which expanded health care coverage to 120,000 more of Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens. And Congress made history earlier this year by passing comprehensive health care reform legislation that will expand access to health care for 32 million uninsured Americans, reduce our budget deficit by $1.3 trillion, ease the burden of health insurance costs on small businesses, and improve care for seniors. I was proud to support these critical reforms, which the President signed into law in March.
Many reforms included in this legislation will take effect right away. In the next year, these changes will begin helping American families:
This legislation will ensure that 95 percent of Americans have health insurance while containing costs and reducing the deficit. These reforms provide for increased competition among insurers, allowing businesses and individuals to choose from a wider range of insurance plans at lower costs. Over the next 10 years, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that this law will reduce the budget deficit by $138 billion dollars, with more than $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction in the following 10 years.
I worked with my Congressional colleagues and the Administration to ensure that no federal funding will be used for abortion. The President's executive order clarifies existing law and ensures that federal subsidies will not pay for abortion services. Make no mistake, this order carries the full force of law (the Emancipation Proclamation and the integration of our armed forces were executive orders). My commitment to life issues has been clear throughout this debate, and I would not have supported this bill unless the executive order upheld my principles and maintained long standing prohibitions on taxpayer dollars for abortion.
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