Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

For years, Americans have felt the burden of costly, one-size-fits-all Obamacare coverage. Countless constituents have shared with me that they've had to change doctors, have lost access to an insurance plan that was affordable and they liked, or most commonly of all, they were forced to buy Obamacare plans that are essentially unusable because of an extremely high deductible. There is nothing affordable about health insurance that the average family must pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, out of pocket just to meet their deductible. For these reasons, I have voted repeatedly to repeal and replace Obamacare, including most recently voting in favor of the American Health Care Act when it passed the House in 2017.

The federal government should continue to provide help with coverage to those Americans truly in need, including through the Medicaid and CHIP programs. However, for most families, more one-size-fits-all or single-payer policies aren't going to make their coverage better or more affordable.

Instead, Congress should end big-government healthcare and put doctors and patients back in charge of healthcare decisions. I support giving individual States more flexibility to try new and innovative approaches to lower costs and provide patients with additional treatment options. I was a strong supporter of the President's "Right to Try" law that will provide hope to thousands of terminally ill patients and their families, by allowing them to access potentially lifesaving treatments still in the FDA approval pipeline. Most recently, the House passed my legislation that would close a loophole in the Medicaid drug rebate program that allowed drug manufacturers to pay less, putting increased burden on patients and costing taxpayers close to $600 million each year.

I believe enacting meaningful medical liability reform would drive down costs for patients and I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration on his comprehensive plan to lower prescription drug prices for all patients. I remain committed to moving forward on meaningful healthcare reform to provide relief to American families.

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