Major Legislation House Democrats Have Passed For The People: Lowering Health Care Costs, Higher Paychecks by Rebuilding America, and Cleaning Up Corruption and Strengthening Our Democracy

This Congress, House Democrats have focused on delivering results for the American people. Americans called for affordable health care; Democrats passed legislation to strengthen and defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from Republican sabotage. Americans called for an economy that works for all; Democrats passed legislation to raise wages and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. Americans called for an end to outside influences in our politics; Democrats passed legislation to clean up corruption and strengthen our democracy. Over the past two years, Democrats have passed nearly 600 bills For The People. Here’s a look at some of the legislation passed through the House of Representatives this Congress: Ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, quality health care is a top priority for Democrats, especially as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the health and lives of Americans across the country. While Republicans want to strike down the ACA with their partisan lawsuit, Democrats passed a series of bills to strengthen and expand the bill, voted to condemn the Administration’s health care sabotage, and defended the ACA in court. Key bills the Democratic-led House has passed to lower health care costs and ensure access to affordable, quality care include:

• H.R. 1425, Patient Protection & Affordable Care Enhancement Act, legislation to strengthen and expand the Affordable Care Act by reducing health coverage costs in marketplace plans and addressing racial disparities in health care by encouraging the expansion of Medicaid.
• H.R. 6800, Heroes Act, legislation that included free coronavirus treatment and testing, which is necessary to slow the spread and defeat this virus.
• H.R. 3, Elijah E. Cummings Lower Health Care Costs Now, legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drugs by giving Medicare the power to negotiate with drug companies, making those negotiated prices available to Americans with private insurance, and creating a new out-of-pocket limit on prescription drug costs for people on Medicare.
• H.R. 987, Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a package of seven bills that will protect and expand access to affordable health care and lower the cost of prescription drugs.
• H.R. 986, Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act, legislation to reverse the Trump Administration’s sabotage of the ACA and protect the 133 million Americans who have a pre-existing condition.

Before the pandemic began, too many Americans had been left behind and left out of a strong economy. Now, with the economy in tatters as a result of the Trump Administration’s failure to effectively combat this pandemic, millions of Americans are waiting to get back to work. Over the past two years, House Democrats have passed a number of bills to help rebuild our country and increase the paychecks of American workers. Key bills passed include:

• H.R. 582, Raise the Wage Act, a bill to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which would raise wages for 33 million Americans and lift 1.3 million Americans out of poverty.
• H.R. 7, Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill to close the wage gap and ensure women receive equal pay for equal work.
• H.R. 2474, Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a bill to protect the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
• H.R. 2, Moving Forward Act, bold legislation to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure that will help create good jobs and spur economic growth.

Americans are tired of dark money drowning out their voices and oppose outside actors trying to undermine our democracy. House Democrats have worked to put power back in the hands of the American people by fighting to safeguard our democracy, restore full voting rights, and clean up corruption in Washington. Here are key bills the House has passed:

• H.R. 1, For the People Act, comprehensive legislation to end the influence of dark money in politics.
• H.R. 4, Voting Rights Advancement Act, legislation restoring the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• H.R. 2722, SAFE Act, legislation to strengthen election security.  
• H.R. 4617, SHIELD Act, legislation to prevent foreign interference in our elections.
• H.R. 748, CARES Act, and H.R. 6800, Heroes Act, both include assistance to states to ensure all Americans can vote safely during the coronavirus pandemic.

Click here to read the PDF. 

Follow Leader Hoyer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.