Health Care

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See Also: The Affordable Care Act's New Patient's Bill of Rights

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I am committed to fighting for affordable, comprehensive Healthcare for all Americans.

Our nation has needed an overhaul to our broken healthcare system for quite some time.  This is why I was proud to have voted to pass H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, the first sweeping health care reform legislation to be come law in almost 100 years.

This legislation will have a huge positive impact on you, the constituents of Missouri's 1st district.  It will immediately improve coverage for everyone who has health insurance, strengthen Medicare for all seniors, cover thousands of uninsured residents and reduce the deficit in the long run. 

This plan also ends gender-based discrimination by stopping insurance companies from charging women more than men for the very same coverage.

It controls costs and reduces the deficit.  According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, this reform package will save taxpayers $138 billion over the next ten years, and over $1.2 trillion over the next twenty years.

Finally, this bill will give average Americans the same health insurance choices that Members of Congress and federal employees have.  I’m very proud that we have done the right thing for everyone who has health insurance, and for the millions who still need it.

Here is a summary of key benefits and immediate improvements in healthcare coverage provide by this historic legislation:

Positive Impact in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District

- Improves coverage for 331,000 1st District residents who have health insurance by ending cancellations when you get sick and banning discrimination because of pre-existing conditions;

- Gives tax credits to 168,000 families and 15,000 small businesses to help them afford coverage;
 
- Strengthens Medicare for 96,000 seniors, including closing the donut hole;
 
- Extends health insurance coverage to 42,000 uninsured residents;

- Guarantees coverage for 10,000 residents with pre-existing conditions;

-Protects 1,400 families who were at risk of medical bankruptcies;

-Allows 47,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents' insurance plans;

-Provide millions in new funding for community health centers.

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Key provisions that will take effect immediately

SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to    35 percent of premiums will be immediately available to fi