Health Care

As Congress continues to debate our spending priorities for the coming years, Americans are very concerned about the impact our decisions will have on their health care options.  I will continue to advocate for access to affordable, quality care for all Americans and protection of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries from drastic cuts.

Health Care Reform

In March of 2010, I voted to pass the Affordable Care Act, historic legislation overhauling our nation’s broken health-care system. Beginning on January 1, 2014, with commencement of the health care marketplace, 40 million Americans will have access to coverage they could not previously afford, and up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing health conditions will no longer be denied coverage by insurers.

Since passage of the law, people in the Seventh District and around the country have already realized many benefits, including:

• 105 million Americans – including 71 million Americans in private plans and 34 million seniors in Medicare – have received access to free preventive services.
• Nearly 13 million Americans have benefited from $1.1 billion in rebates from health insurance companies.
• Up to 17 million children with pre-existing health conditions can no longer be denied coverage by insurers.
• 6.6 million young adults up to age 26 have taken advantage of the law to obtain health insurance through their parents’ plan, of whom 3.1 million would be uninsured without this coverage.
• 105 million Americans no longer have a lifetime limit on their coverage.
• More than 6.6 million seniors in the ‘donut hole’ have already saved over $7 billion on their prescription drugs, or an average savings of $1,061 per senior.
• More than 4.4 million seniors have had a free Annual Wellness Visit under Medicare.
• The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit has already been used by 360,000 small businesses to help insure 2 million workers.

Starting on October 1, 2013, Hoosiers in search of health coverage were able to start looking for plans on the health insurance marketplace by either contacting in-person assisters (also called Navigators), calling the 24-Hour Affordable Care Act Call Center at 800-318-2596, or visiting the online website at www.healthcare.gov.    To find out where you can go for in person assistance, please visit https://localhelp.healthcare.gov/.

Medicaid Expansion in Indiana

Medicaid is an entitlement program that provides health coverage to low income Americans.  Eligibility for Medicaid was generally limited to low-income children, pregnant women, parents of dependent children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.  However, recent changes in the law would allow other low-income individuals, such as childless adults to get coverage through Medicaid in states that expand the program—at no cost to the states through 2016. 

I worked hard to extend this important coverage to these vulnerable groups.  Unfortunately, Indiana has chosen not to expand Medicaid and as a result Hoosiers will not have the same access to health coverage as people in our neighboring states, such as Kentucky.   I will continue to work with my colleagues from all sides to  ensure that our communities receive the best benefits and health care possible.

Medicare and Protecting The Health of Our Seniors

Medicare is a federal insurance program that pays for covered health care services of qualified beneficiaries, including individuals 65 and older.  I have continuously fought to protect our seniors from the rising costs of health care.  As my colleagues and I continue to look for ways to make Medicare more efficient, I am committed to maintaining a high quality of care. 

Access to health services and prescription drugs through Medicare is only the first hurdle our seniors face as they deal with problems such as serious illnesses and living on fixed-incomes. The Affordable Care Act eased some of the burdens on seniors by helping seniors close the gap between coverage and out of pocket expenses for prescription drugs.  Many individuals have already benefitted from the Affordable Care Act reforms:

• Reduces prescription drug costs for seniors. 
• Provides free Medicare coverage of key preventive services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies. 
• Provides a free Annual Wellness Visit under Medicare.
• Provides additional savings for seniors, including stable and lower premiums and a lower deductible. 
• Strengthens Medicare  by decreasing inefficiencies and extends the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by nearly a decade.
• Provides new tools and enhanced authority to crack down on fraud in Medicare., Over the last four years, a joint anti-Medicare fraud task force of HHS and the Department of Justice has recovered nearly $15 billion in fraudulent Medicare payments on behalf of taxpayers, doubling the amount recovered over the four years prior.