Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

I am committed to preserving and protecting our nation's healthcare system. I understand the challenges many Pennsylvanians -- and all Americans -- face when it comes to receiving healthcare benefits for themselves and their families.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Medicare will go bankrupt by 2024 if we fail to act. I believe that we must balance the needs of today's seniors and near-seniors while also preserving Medicare for future generations. Additionally, we need more stringent safeguards and increased investigation into Medicare fraud and abuse, so there is sufficient funding for those who truly need it.

Before I arrived in Congress, President Obama's healthcare law cut more than $700 billion from Medicare, cutting seniors' benefits, and increasing seniors' Medicare premiums.

Even though the United States Supreme Court said the president's healthcare law is a constitutional law, that doesn't mean it is a good law. The decision was a victory for big government and a defeat for individual freedom. Since being sworn in, I have voted to protect and strengthen seniors' benefits by repealing the president's healthcare law over thirty times.

I am deeply concerned that this overreach of federal authority will dramatically impact the healthcare choices my constituents will be able to make on their own. Seniors will have their healthcare decisions made by a panel of 15 unelected bureaucrats who will determine whether or not a doctor who accepts Medicare gets paid to perform procedures or exams.

I will continue to work with my colleagues on commonsense reforms to replace this unconstitutional law. The problem with our healthcare system is not access, it is affordability. I support measures to lower the price of healthcare coverage, including allowing consumers to shop for healthcare plans across state lines. Competition will drive down the price, giving more consumers access to cheaper, yet effective plans.

I also support preserving seniors' access to medical services provided by hospitals in our community and preserving home and community based-care for our senior citizens.

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