Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Ensuring access to high quality, affordable health care is essential for people in Northwest Washington and across the country. Throughout my time in Congress, I have advocated for health care that fits Northwest Washington's specific needs, including funding for critical access hospitals, better health services for veterans and Medicare beneficiaries, and health care that fits families' budgets.

The Affordable Care Act is helping thousands of families in Washington state. The law is an important step toward shifting the focus of health care from volume to value, improving the quality of care instead of just growing the quantity of care. Washington state is a nationwide leader in expanding people's access to health care. Our state recently experienced the fourth biggest drop in the nation in our uninsured rate.

The new law is benefitting people in Northwest Washington in many ways. Under the Affordable Care Act, many preventive services like cancer screenings and check ups are available to people without co-pays, coinsurance, or deductibles. This means more than 100,000 seniors, nearly 42,000 kids and 209,000 adults in Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties can now receive this important preventive care at no cost to them. Another important improvement has allowed about 7,000 young adults in the district to stay covered through their parents' insurance. And people of all ages can no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. This benefit protects about 36,000 children in our area from losing their coverage because of their health history.

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