In the News

We’re facing a health care crisis in this country.

Big drug companies once again began the New Year by hiking the prices of hundreds of medications. In the first week of 2020, they slapped higher price tags on more than 500 drugs, most of which have no generic competitor. As we know very well in northeastern Pennsylvania, that means many people are being forced to choose between filling their prescriptions and paying other bills.

At the same time, critical parts of our health care system that have been working well are under attack.

This year’s proposed budget would slash funding for Medicare by $500 billion and Medicaid by $900 billion over the next ten years. It’s true. It’s in black-and-white in the White House budget. Did you know that six of every 10 nursing home residents in our state depend on Medicaid? These proposed cuts would seriously undermine essential health care lifelines for older Americans with long-term care needs, children, people with disabilities and those who live in the more rural areas of northeastern Pennsylvania.

In the courts, there is a pending lawsuit to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. If successful, this would take health care coverage away from nearly 60,000 northeastern Pennsylvanians, and strip away the protections for more than 280,000 of our local residents who have pre-existing conditions.

Americans are demanding action from their elected leaders as they face increasingly higher health care costs.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, we are answering that call. Take H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which I helped pass the House in December. Many people do not know that right now, American law prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. It’s true, and it’s outrageous. The VA system already does negotiate drug prices.

H.R. 3 is a bold reform that would empower Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies, to secure lower drug prices for people on Medicare and Americans with private insurance. Those savings would then be reinvested so that Medicare can provide dental, vision and hearing benefits. More than nine million Pennsylvanians would see lower costs for many drugs, including insulin, and more comprehensive care.

And consider H.R. 986, the Protecting Americans with Pre-existing Conditions Act, and H.R. 987, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, bills I also helped pass. These bills would strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions, so insurance companies cannot hike their premiums or turn them away, and help bring lower-priced generic drugs to market faster.

But on top of these necessary and long-overdue health care reforms, there are more than 275 House-passed bills piled up in the Senate, each of which passed the House with support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

The American people expect their leaders to work together and make progress to improve their lives. On no issue is that more relevant than health care. In the House, we have taken decisive action to protect access to quality, affordable health care and to bring down prescription drug costs. The Senate should follow the House and do the same.