Health Care and Reproductive Rights

"As a nurse, I have always considered access to quality, affordable health care fundamental to my practice. I carry this with me in Congress and I consider protecting access to care for people with pre-existing conditions and making health care and prescription drugs more affordable among my most essential priorities."

Congresswoman Underwood believes all Americans should have high-quality, affordable health care. In Congress, she is focused on protecting people with pre-existing conditions, lowering health insurance premiums and drug prices, and expanding access to mental health care.

One of her very first bills, H.R. 1010, protects patients by banning "junk" insurance plans that don't have to cover pre-existing conditions or health benefits people rely on like hospital services, maternity care, or prescription drugs. This bill was passed by the House of Representatives on May 16, 2019, and is awaiting consideration by the Senate. Congresswoman Underwood has also passed legislation to protect people with pre-existing conditions, allow people up to 26 years old to stay on their parents' health insurance, and help make quality health care more affordable.

She has also introduced the Health Care Affordability Act (H.R. 1868), which would ensure that no one who buys insurance on their own has to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for health insurance premiums. This would reduce premiums by hundreds or thousands of dollars for more than 17,000 people in Illinois's 14th Congressional District and make lower-cost options available to 22,000 uninsured people in the district.

Congresswoman Underwood believes women should have access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care options. She supports investing in nursing, mental health, and other providers to increase access to care.

Congresswoman Underwood is focused on retirement security, so that seniors who worked hard their whole lives have the comfortable and dignified retirement they have earned. She supports improving Social Security benefits and strengthening the program through the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 860), which is the most important source of retirement income for 4 out of 5 seniors. She introduced H.R. 2005, the Women's Retirement Protection Act, which would extend critical protections to women's retirement security and ensure women can better prepare for retirement.

For more information concerning work and views related to Health Care & Social Security, please contact our office.