|
Health Care
Congressman Polis believes that all Americans should have access to high-quality, affordable health care. It is unacceptable that a country that spends more on health care than any other cannot provide affordable treatment for all its citizens. As the U.S. population ages and health care spending approaches 20 percent of our economy, it is clear that we must work to reduce health care costs while expanding insurance coverage to all Americans.
Medicare
Congressman Polis is a strong supporter of Medicare. While it is critical that Congress work to get America’s fiscal house in order, Congressman Polis does not believe we should balance the budget on the backs of seniors who have funded the program for years with their hard-earned tax dollars. Since Medicare’s creation in 1965, it has become an indispensible part of our nation’s social safety net. In fact, in 2010 alone, the program provided comprehensive health insurance to 47 million Americans, including over 600,000 Coloradans. Medicare unquestionably has succeeded in giving our seniors the opportunity to maintain a healthy and productive standard of living after they retire, and Congressman Polis is committed to working in Congress to develop a plan to ensure the long-term sustainability of Medicare in a way that protects the benefits that our seniors rely on.
Affordable Care Act
In 2010, Congressman Polis voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and continues to be a strong supporter of the law. The Affordable Care Act will allow 32 million more Americans to purchase health insurance while eliminating the Medicare prescription “donut hole,” preventing insurers from dropping health coverage because of preexisting conditions, allowing young adults to stay on their parents coverage until age 26, providing free preventative care, reducing fraud and abuse in Medicare, giving doctors incentives to use electronic medical records, and moving away from a fee-for-service payment system that encourages overuse and abuse of hospital services.
To find out more about how the Affordable Care Act will impact you:
For more information about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, please visit www.HealthCare.gov.
Universal Coverage
Congressman Polis
believes that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care. No one should have to refuse life-saving treatment or live with debilitating illness because they can’t afford a doctor. By establishing single-payer universal coverage, the government can ensure that no suffering American falls through the cracks. A single-payer system would compensate medical professionals and institutions from one fund, rather than subject doctors and patients to a labyrinth of paperwork and bureaucracy. This would reduce administrative costs and secure assets that many private companies cannot. Congressman Polis also strongly support community health care providers, like Clinica Family Health Services in Boulder County and Summit Community Care Clinic in Summit County, who are doing their best to fill in the gaps in coverage in our current, broken system.
Children’s Health Care
Keeping American’s children healthy is one Congressman Polis' top priorities. One of his first votes in Congress was to pass the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization of 2009. Leaders of both parties in the House and the Senate worked quickly to ensure that SCHIP would be one of the first measures approved by President Barack Obama. Congressman Polis proudly led the bill’s debate on the floor of the House, urging his colleagues to bring health coverage and quality care to 11 million American children, 170,000 of whom live in Colorado. We have no greater responsibility than to care for our nation’s sick kids. We are moving in the right direction, but there is much more to be done.
Technology and Innovation
Medical technology has made great strides in the past few decades, but we have also been forced to confront new challenges. For every new vaccine or treatment that science produces, new diseases are discovered. One of the most promising innovations of our time comes from the results of embryonic stem cell research. Congressman Polis supports a dramatic expansion in federal funding for this research. More than 100 million Americans suffer from conditions that could be treated by the appropriate application of these new discoveries. This is a public health priority that can no longer take a back seat to petty, partisan bickering. He favors federal funding for responsible and ethical research on new lines of stem cells, which would otherwise be destroyed.
Office Contact:
For more information or questions about health care issues, please contact Adam Lowenstein in the Washington office. You can also visit Congressman Polis' Legislation Page or find information on bills and amendments that he’s cosponsored in Congress.
|
Schedule a meeting 
Tour REQUEST 
Legislative
Email UPDATES 
