Issue Position: Accessible Affordable Healthcare

Issue Position

Texas continues to have the highest rate of people without health insurance of any state in the country -- about one in every six residents. Texas' 23rd Congressional District is one of the most medically-underserved districts in the country. Out of 29 counties, there are 18 with three or less doctors and three with no doctors at all. We need to increase access to quality health care and lower the cost of prescription drugs while maintaining Texans' ability to keep their private health insurance plans if they choose to.

Gina watched as her mother faced a diagnosis of colon cancer and understands that her mother's survival was possible because of the health care coverage she had as a public employee. Gina also realizes that too many families are just one medical emergency away from years of financial hardship or bankruptcy. Finally, Gina is ready to lead the fight to ensure having a child in Texas is no longer a matter of life and death for the mother. Texas can do better than leading the developed world in maternal mortality, and that starts with sending folks like Gina to Washington.

In Congress, Gina will make affordable, accessible, quality healthcare for every American - regardless of sex, age, income, or employment status - a top priority. Gina supports a single payer system and understands that with our country's health, there can only be one incentive: a healthy population.

In Congress, Gina will work to:

Make much-needed fixes to the Affordable Care Act, creating a fair and affordable health care system that covers every American.

Make quality services and patient-centered health care the priority over the profit margins of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

Reduce the costs and red tape to small businesses -- making it easier and more affordable for them to provide health care coverage for their employees.

Ensure full, safe, and affordable access to reproductive health services for all women - including those in our rural communities challenged with limited access.

Push for new legislation that would allow the Government to negotiate with prescription drug companies for lower prices.

Address the opioid overdose epidemic in a meaningful way, as Texas ranks second in the nation for health care costs associated with opioid abuse.

Work to lower health care costs by focusing more dollars on preventative care, and experiment with plans that reward doctors and health care providers for having healthier outcomes instead of ordering more tests, pills, and procedures.

Invest in the infrastructure needed, particularly rural broadband, to expand the use of telemedicine and telepsychiatry in our rural communities.

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