Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Congresswoman Slaughter is a fierce advocate for science-based solutions to improve health care and make it more affordable. As the only microbiologist in Congress, the congresswoman is uniquely qualified to examine and discuss the health care issues facing our nation. With a wide range of legislative victories under her belt, Congresswoman Slaughter is considered one of the top health care authorities in Congress.

Congresswoman Slaughter is fighting to address some of the biggest health issues of our time, such as keeping antibiotics effective, preventing genetic discrimination, protecting women's health, and ensuring affordable health care coverage for all.

Priorities

Expanding Health Care Coverage: Congresswoman Slaughter was instrumental in passing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Thanks to the ACA, children can stay on their parents' insurance until the age of 26, insurance companies can no longer deny a person health insurance due to preexisting conditions or charge women more than men for the same policies, and millions of seniors now have free access to life-saving preventative health care -- all while reducing the federal deficit by billions of dollars.

Preserving Antibiotics for Human Health: The congresswoman is the author of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), which she first introduced in 2007. PAMTA is designed to significantly reduce the quantity of antibiotics routinely used in the production of livestock and poultry. Scientific evidence indicates that this overuse of antibiotics in food production is currently contributing to the growth of antibiotic resistance threatening human health. Protecting the medical value of our antibiotics is critical to keeping American citizens healthy. For a more in depth article about antibiotic resistance, please visit the Antibiotic Resistance page here.

Securing Research Funding: Today, scientists are on the verge of breakthroughs in genetics, cell biology, and other areas that will allow for innovative new methods of prevention, detection, and treatment, as well as advancing toward cures. With this in mind, Congresswoman Slaughter actively opposes proposed cuts to funding for the National Institute of Health (NIH) and advocates for the expansion of research efforts.

Accomplishments

Affordable Care Act (ACA): Then chair of the House Committee on Rules, Congresswoman Slaughter played a pivotal role in bringing the ACA to the floor of the House of Representatives for the final vote on passage. The ACA is making health care more affordable for American families. In the greater Rochester area alone, 213,000 people, including 53,000 children and 129,000 women with private health insurance coverage now receive preventive benefits -- such as vaccines, contraceptive coverage and cancer screenings -- for no cost. In Monroe County, 252,000 people now have insurance policies that have no lifetime or annual limits on coverage. The uninsured rate in Monroe County has fallen by 23 percent since the ACA went into effect.

Inclusion of Women and Minorities in Research: Congresswoman Slaughter dedicated the first $500 million in federal funds to breast cancer research at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Prior to 1993, all clinical trials at the NIH were being conducted only on white men. This meant that diseases killing thousands of women per year, like breast cancer or ovarian cancer, or those that disproportionately affect minorities, such as sickle cell anemia, were not being researched properly. Congresswoman Slaughter led the charge to fix this discrepancy, culminating in the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993, which mandated that the NIH include women and minorities in all human subject research.

Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus: Congresswoman Slaughter fights tirelessly to advance the rights of women, including reproductive rights. In her role as co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, she works to protect women's reproductive freedom and to educate the public about reproductive health. In response to the Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which allowed an employer to deny coverage for certain types of contraceptive methods, Congresswoman Slaughter introduced the Not My Boss's Business Bill, which would ensure that no corporation can deny their employees federally mandated health services.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA): Congresswoman Slaughter authored the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which became law in 2008 after a fourteen-year congressional battle. The late Senator Ted Kennedy called GINA the "the first civil rights bill of the new century."

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