Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Issue Position: Health Care

Americans receive some of the best health care in the world, when they can access it. But too often, cost prohibits people from obtaining insurance or adequate coverage and seeking care when they need it. This cycle leads to expensive emergency room visits and, eventually, higher costs for all of us.

Today, a record 47 million Americans are living without health insurance. These are the forgotten Americans who make too much to qualify for government assistance but not enough to afford insurance. Programs like the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have made great strides in covering children in families that cannot afford health insurance, but Congress must do more to cover uninsured Americans.

The amount spent on personal health care in America has risen dramatically in recent years, causing health insurance to consume a greater portion of household income than ever before.

Businesses, and small businesses in particular, face significant challenges in providing for the health of their employees while remaining competitive in a global marketplace. As a member of the House Committee on Small Business, I support efforts to help small businesses provide health insurance for their employees. Read more about issues affecting small businesses

Medicare

Medicare has a long track record of ensuring America's seniors have access to affordable, quality health care. While the hospital and physician portions of the program have been largely successful, improvements are needed to ensure doctors are paid fairly for their services and the program remains fiscally sustainable. The recent addition of a prescription drug benefit, Part D, has eased the burden of rising drug prices for many of our seniors. But we can save taxpayers and America's seniors more money by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices in the same way the Department of Veterans Affairs has successfully negotiated lower prices for America's veterans. It's a commonsense approach I was glad to support in the opening days of the 110th Congress, H.R. 4.

Children's Health Care

Few programs have been as successful in expanding health care to the uninsured as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Ten years after a Democratic President and a Republican Congress worked together to sign SCHIP into law, over 6 million more children have access to quality health care. These children enjoy a level playing field at school and have a better chance to succeed.

Yet despite the successes of this program, there are still too many children without access to health care. In Indiana alone, 161,000 children are without health insurance. Nationwide, the number is closer to 9 million. That is why I was proud to support an SCHIP reauthorization bill that preserves health care coverage for the 6.6 million children currently covered by SCHIP and provides coverage to an additional 3.8 million currently uninsured children who already qualify for the program. A Presidential veto prevented health insurance coverage for these additional children in 2007, but I will continue to support providing more Hoosier children with the health care they need.

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