Health Care

FIGHTING FOR AFFORDABLE, QUALITY, UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

The best way to provide high-quality health care to all is through a single-payer system.  As we look to strengthen our health care system, I am listening to the recommendations of stakeholders, including patients, doctors, and employers. 

The Affordable Care Act

H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, established a framework to provide health care coverage to thirty-two million more people by creating health insurance exchanges, or competitive marketplaces, where individuals and small businesses can choose between several insurance plans.  To learn more about the implementation of the California Health Benefit Exchange, you may also want to visit www.healthexchange.ca.gov.  Additionally, those who cannot afford to purchase health insurance on their own would be eligible to receive subsidies to help pay for the cost.  This legislation provided tax credits for small businesses, and included insurance market reforms, like repealing pre-existing condition exclusions and lifetime caps, for individual and small group plans.  H.R. 3590 was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. 

Furthermore, I worked with my colleagues to make improvements to the framework established by H.R. 3590.  That’s why I supported H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010.  H.R. 4872 closed the Medicare Part D “donut hole” over time, increased subsidies for low-income families to purchase health insurance, raised the threshold for the excise tax on high cost health care plans, improved Medicaid payments to physicians, and ensured that insurance market reforms apply to all insurance plans.  The reforms in these two bills already have had far-reaching effects in the 6th Congressional District, including:

• 5,000 young adults in the 6th District now have health insurance.
• 7,800 seniors in the 6th District received prescription drug discounts worth $4.5 million, an average discount of $590 per senior.
• 71,000 seniors in the 6th District received Medicare preventive services without paying any co-pays, coinsurance, or deductibles.
• 31,000 children and 130,000 adults now have health insurance that covers preventive services without paying any co-pays, coinsurance, or deductibles.
• 690 small businesses in the 6th District received tax credits to help maintain or expand health care coverage for their employees.
• 7,000 to 32,000 children with preexisting health conditions can no longer be denied coverage by health insurers.
 
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.  I was pleased when the Court ruled in June to uphold the law.  Now that constitutionality of the law has been confirmed, we can focus on implementing these vital reforms to improve access to quality, affordable health care for all.  For additional information about the impact of health care reform, please visit www.healthcare.gov or view this fact sheet dispelling common myths about the law.

Public Option

These historic reforms provide a strong foundation upon which we can build and improve our health care system even further.  That’s why I introduced H.R. 191, the Public Option Deficit Reduction Act, which would create a robust public option to compete with private plans and provide real choices for patients.  The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that provides Congress with analysis of pending legislation, found that a public option could save $88 billion between 2014 and 2021.  These savings could be used to improve the subsidies to low-income individuals and make health insurance even more affordable, to reduce the deficit, or to off-set the cost of other programs.  To read the bill, please visit http://1.usa.gov/xDax0f.

Impacts of the House Leadership Medicare Plan

The budget passed in March 2012 would end Medicare as we know it. First, it significantly cuts spending on Medicare by eliminating benefits and shifting costs to seniors and individuals with disabilities.  Second, it ends traditional Medicare for individuals under 55 by transforming Medicare from a guaranteed benefit program to a privatized voucher program.  The budget also increases the eligibility age for Medicare, which is currently 65.  Beginning in 2023, the eligibility age increases by two months each year, until it reaches age 67 in 2034.  These changes will mean that millions of Americans will have to wait an extra two years until they can receive Medicare benefits.

Protecting Medicare and Medicaid

On August 2, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included provisions aimed at deficit reduction and an increase in the debt limit of up to $2.4 trillion.  In addition, the legislation established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which was responsible for identifying $1.2 trillion in budget savings over ten years by November 23, 2011.  However, on November 21, 2011, the bipartisan committee announced it would not be able to agree to budget savings by its deadline.  Without this agreement, automatic, across the board cuts equal to $1.2 trillion will be implemented in January 2013.  Medicaid is protected from these cuts, and Medicare cuts are limited to a two percent reduction in provider payments.  Be assured I will continue fight to preserve and improve Medicare and Medicaid as future deficit reduction proposals are considered in Congress.

A reduction in Medicare payments would have a devastating effect on physicians, other health care providers, and patients across the country.  We must find a permanent solution to Medicare physician payment rates so that Medicare patients can continue to be served by their physicians.  A 27.4% cut to Medicare physician payment rates was scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2012.  Fortunately, H.R. 3630, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, extended current Medicare reimbursement rates through December 31, 2012.

Marin and Sonoma

Local health care concerns, including Marin County’s high rate of breast cancer and Medicare reimbursement rates for rural physicians in Sonoma County, are part of a larger discussion of health care.

Marin County’s breast cancer rates are alarmingly high.  That’s why I am working with the local community and the federal government to determine the best approach and means of intervention to investigate Marin’s high breast cancer rates.  I have brought millions of dollars in federal funding to Marin to bolster local research efforts. 

It’s essential that local doctors receive their full reimbursement under Medicare.  I have cosponsored legislation to prevent any cuts in the reimbursement rate for physicians, to ensure that rural doctors are not discriminated against when it comes to reimbursement rates; and that doctors receive payment that reflects the costs of the services they provide.  This is important especially to residents of Sonoma County, who are seeing doctors leave the area because they can’t afford to stay in business. 

Access to Reproductive Care

Lastly, to promote healthy lifestyles, we must ensure that all women have access to a full range of reproductive choices, including contraception, comprehensive sexuality education, and abortion.  That’s why I will continue to support legislation which ensures that comprehensive sexual education is taught in our schools, and that pregnant women have access to prenatal care.  Additionally, I support Title X family planning programs which fund low-cost, confidential family planning services that would otherwise be out of reach for many people.  

(Updated July 2012)