Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

In the two years since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, it has benefited millions of Michiganders by improving health care coverage and reducing costs. At the same time, the law's most significant reforms have yet to take effect, including the provision that will prevent private insurers from denying Americans coverage because of a preexisting condition or kicking them off their plan because they get sick -- both of which become effective in 2014. Here are some of the ways in which health reform has already benefited families in our state.

Protecting Medicare

The new health care reform law provides Medicare recipients with access to free preventive care and a free annual wellness visit every year. People who hit the Medicare prescription drug donut hole are getting a 50 percent discount on their prescription drugs. By 2020, the health reform law will eliminate the donut hole completely, ensuring that care is provided when you need it the most.

I am fighting to protect guaranteed benefits for all 47 million Americans on Medicare. Estimates by the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that the new benefits and services provided to Medicare recipients by the Affordable Care Act will save the typical senior over $3,500 over the next decade.

Protecting Health Reform

Republicans in the House of Representatives failed in their efforts to repeal health reform in its entirety. They are now trying to repeal the bill in pieces, but they continue to be unsuccessful at undoing the substantial gains we have made. We need to support the gains we have made to make sure that health care is affordable and accessible for all Americans. You may review my statements here on their efforts to repeal a piece of the health reform law.

Health Research

Health care research is essential to improving clinical treatments and finding new cures. I believe that we must provide adequate funding for medical and health research if we are to continue improving health outcomes and enhancing the quality of life in America. To this end, I strongly support increasing federal funds for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the country's top-notch federal agency for supporting and conducting research on disease prevention, causes, treatment, and cures.

I am urging an increase in NIH funding of 6.5 percent for 2013 -- this will enable our scientific researchers to continue to do the cutting edge research leading to cures for disease. In past years, I strongly opposed the massive cuts proposed for NIH in the House Republican FY 2011 and FY2012 Budgets and Democratic opposition was essential for preserving those funds.

Women's Health

In 2005, I introduced the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act, and the bill was signed into law in 2007. The bill is referred to as Johanna's Law in honor of Johanna Silver Gordon, a Southfield high school teacher who died of ovarian cancer in 2000. The legislation created a federal education campaign to increase awareness and early detection of gynecological cancers. We continue to reauthorize this vital legislation in order to continue to fight against these deadly cancers. To view the website for the education campaign, housed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, please click here.

I have been a strong supporter of our efforts to find cures and improve treatment for breast cancer. Recently I have co-sponsored legislation to renew the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, which provides valuable funds for NIH research, and have supported continued appropriations for the Department of Defense Congressional-directed research program on breast cancer. The new health reform law provides women improved access to preventive services that can detect gynecological cancers early. To find out how the health reform law can help women and girls protect themselves from cancers, go here.

The health reform law removes barriers and discriminatory practices by insurance companies that hurt women. For a list of important changes for women in the new health law, go here.

The new health care reform law also makes great strides for women by giving nursing mothers the right to reasonable accommodation to breastfeed at work, eliminating discrimination against women in health insurance plans and ensuring that women have the option to give birth in birth centers as well as in hospitals.

Child Development and Mental Health

According to the Surgeon General, only one-third of Americans with diagnosable mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and clinical depression are receiving appropriate treatment. This statistic tells me that we have a lot of work to do in the area of mental health care. I believe that all Americans should have access to mental healthcare when they need it, and I have made removing barriers to mental health treatment a top priority and why I supported mental health parity legislation.

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