Healthcare
Information regarding my stance on Health Care issues.
March 23, 2010
"This year, adults with preexisting conditions will be able to enroll in a high risk pool to make sure they finally have basic health care protections in preparation for full integration into our insurance system. This year, discrimination against children with preexisting conditions will end. This year, insurance companies will not be able to kick people off of their insurance because they are sick. This year, seniors stuck in the Medicare Part D donut hole will receive a $250 rebate and next year will see their prescription drug costs in the donut hole reduced by 50 percent. This year, small businesses will receive up to a 35 percent tax credit to help pay for health coverage for their employees. This year, new insurance plans will be required to offer free preventative care. This year, young adults up to the age of 26 will be allowed to stay on their parents’ health plan. This year, early retirees aged 55-64 will see additional relief to help them afford health coverage."
Issues:
Healthcare
March 21, 2010
"In the fight to extend health coverage to every man, woman, and child, this bill is an incredibly important beginning. But it's still just a beginning. 'A more perfect union' implies that the progress of the American experience is never complete. Each subsequent generation is expected to pick up the torch and continue on our long road toward positive change. Today the House of Representatives bestowed upon this great nation the most historic health reform since Medicare. I am proud to have voted 'yes' for health care reform. I won't live to see a perfect union, but it is a tremendous honor to see a more perfect union formed before my eyes."
Issues:
Healthcare
Social Justice
March 21, 2010
2. It significantly increases the number of primary care doctors in America and includes new investments in medical training. 3. It cracks down on health care fraud by enhancing screening procedures for health care providers.
Issues:
Healthcare
Seniors
Social Justice
March 18, 2010
"Today’s cost estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirms what we already expected: the health care bill being considered by Congress will expand coverage to millions of Americans while significantly reducing our deficit. With these numbers, the naysayers and obstructionists have run out of excuses. We know how many people it will extend lifesaving coverage to, and we know how significantly it improves our economy."
Issues:
Healthcare
March 18, 2010
As health care reform moves through the House legislative process today, I wanted to introduce two new studies that help reiterate why it’s essential that we pass comprehensive health care reform this year.
A new report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research shows that nearly a quarter of all Californians are currently without health insurance. From 2007 to 2009, the number of uninsured in California rose from 6.4 million to 8.2 million.
Issues:
Healthcare
March 17, 2010
"This week, members of Congress will make be making a stark choice. Do we stand with the millions of people without coverage and millions more one pink slip away from health care ruin? Or do we stand with the entrenched interests who will do all they can to stop reform to maximize their profits at the expense of patients? I believe every American deserves access to affordable health care coverage, and I will do all I can to make that happen."
Issues:
Healthcare
March 16, 2010
We are receiving a number of calls and e-mails about the status of health care reform. This is an important week in the fight to ensure that 31 million Americans who do not have health insurance can get it.
We are going to provide a daily update on the comings and goings of health care reform.
Yesterday, the House Budget Committee, by a 21-16 vote, moved a budget reconciliation bill to the next step in the legislative process. The committee deemed the Senate health care bill passed.
Issues:
Healthcare
March 3, 2010
"We are at the crossroads of history. We can either choose to expand health insurance coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans or let the insurance industry continue the status quo of pre-existing conditions, high premiums, and record corporate profits. There’s still time to pass a bill that does the right thing for the American people."
Issues:
Healthcare
February 24, 2010
"With this bill, we force America’s health insurance industry into the same market that we want all American industry to be in: the free market competitive system. This is simple. Insurance companies should not be able to monopolize the health insurance marketplace," Congressman Garamendi said. "For 65 years, the insurance industry has used the anti-trust exemption to collude against consumers, fixing prices and raising rates well above inflation. Enough is enough."
Issues:
Economy and Jobs
Healthcare
February 22, 2010
"When almost every other industry colludes at the expense of consumers, we call it a crime. When the health insurance industry colludes, we call it business as usual," Congressman Garamendi said. "This legislation removes one of the most damaging weapons in the insurance industry’s arsenal: the ability to manipulate the market together behind closed doors. In my eight years regulating the insurance industry in California, what I learned above all else is that you can’t trust the insurance industry to regulate itself. Insurance company executives will scratch and claw their way to maximum profit, and they don’t care who gets hurt along the way."
Issues:
Healthcare