We cannot go back to the days when someone could be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or when you could be charged more for coverage for simply being a woman. That’s why I continue to vote to protect the Affordable Care Act and build on it.
I support getting America to universal quality coverage and the best way to incentivize competition is to give people a choice between public and private coverage options. We must make it easier and more affordable for small businesses to provide health coverage for their employees. That’s why I fought for increased health insurance subsidies in the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act and am pushing to extend them beyond 2025. These subsidies made coverage on the Washington Health Benefits Exchange more affordable, allowing a record high enrollment of more than 270,000 Washingtonians to get coverage.
Medicare is a cornerstone of our nation’s health care system. I am committed to protecting it and will fight against any efforts to privatize or dismantle Medicare. The focus instead should be on controlling the rising costs of care and improving the quality of care our seniors receive. That’s why I voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which is allowing the Biden administration to negotiate lower prescription drug prices in Medicare, caps insulin prices in Medicare at $35 per month and will cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors at $2,000 annually. These commonsense reforms will make meaningful progress in lowering costs for seniors and improving access to care. Moving forward, I believe we must extend these hard-fought cost savings to all Americans, not just those with Medicare.
During my time in Congress, I have focused on making health care work better for patients and providers. That is why I introduced legislation to streamline health insurance red tape. Due to the overwhelming bipartisan support for my legislation, the Biden administration implemented many elements of the bill, and I am now focused on cementing that policy into law so that insurance plans will be held accountable for delaying or denying medically necessary care that seniors are entitled to.
