Issue Position: Health Issues
Issue Position
Values
Consistently supports repealing and replacing Obamacare to end, in my opinion, a massive government takeover of the health care industry.
Supports fairness for all Americans when it comes to their personal health care. Opposes the waivers and delays that have been provided to businesses and special interests from the requirements of Obamacare when regular Americans get no such relief. Opposes the federal government meddling with the doctor-patient relationship by mandating what medical services will and will not be covered for senior citizens through Obamacare's Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).
Believes in health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
Believes in protecting and promoting access to health care for rural Americans.
Believes in empowering patients to receive quality, affordable health care that meets that patient's individual health care needs and removing federal barriers that exist to this care, especially for those with terminal illnesses who are willing to take risks with new and experimental treatments.
Believes in a long-term solution for the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The SGR formula was established to limit the increase in spending for doctors' services that the Medicare fee schedule alone would not cover. The intent of the SGR system was to be a restraint on total spending for Medicare. However, having never been implemented, the system is not effective as evidenced by Congress's innumerous short-term "fixes" to the SGR formula.
Actions
Member of Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse and Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamines.
Introduced H.R. 3162 to ensure that our coal miners can keep their expanded Black Lung benefits should Obamacare be repealed. While I fully support repealing Obamacare, I believe it is wrong to take away the Black Lung benefit improvements included as part of the health care law.
Introduced the bipartisan Compounding Clarity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3089) with Reps. Gene Green (D-TX) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) to clarify Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over compounding, particularly large-scale entities like the New England Compounding Center (NECC) whose tainted steroid injections caused 64 deaths and 750 confirmed cases of fungal meningitis. Parts of the Compounding Clarity Act were included in broader, bipartisan, bicameral legislation, the Drug Quality and Security Act (H.R. 3204), which will prevent another national public health crisis like the meningitis outbreak that impacted so many residents of Southwest Virginia.
Introduced the bipartisan Patient Choice Act of 2013 (H.R. 2090) with Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Mike McCaul (R-TX) which aims to speed up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of drugs for patients. Among other reforms, the Patient Choice Act would create a fast track provisional approval process for innovative drugs and treatments while giving patients with terminal diseases the option to purchase these new therapies at their own expense.
Introduced the Compassionate Freedom of Choice Act (H.R. 4475), which would allow terminally ill patients to use drugs, treatments, and devices that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) if their physicians certify that such patients have no other treatment options and the patient gives written, informed consent that they are aware of any potentials risks of the treatment. For patients whose doctors have exhausted current medical options and the patient has been told that the end of life is nearing, I do not think the government should care what treatment the patient may choose, and these patients should have the freedom to decide if the risk of an experimental drug is worth it for themselves.
Introduced H.R. 4489, the Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marijuana Act (LUMMA). This bill would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug and would also prohibit the federal government from preventing the prescription, possession, transportation, and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes in compliance with applicable state law such as the Virginia medicinal marijuana law that has been on the books since 1979. LUMMA does not involve the recreational use of marijuana -- which I oppose -- but instead would put marijuana in the same category as drugs like codeine, morphine, hydrocodone, and others which are currently accepted for medical use, which would allow for further research into the risks and benefits of marijuana as a treatment for cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, and other illnesses.
Introduced the bipartisan Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act of 2014 (H.R. 4577) with Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) to allow any willing pharmacy located within medically underserved or health professional shortage areas, like our rural communities in Southwest Virginia, to participate in Medicare Part D preferred networks. While Medicare Part D preferred pharmacy network plans were designed to make prescription drugs more affordable for beneficiaries, these plans have created confusion for seniors and put community pharmacies at a competitive disadvantage. Some seniors, especially in rural areas, have reported having to travel upwards of 20 miles in order to get their medications from a preferred pharmacy network because their local community pharmacy was not given the opportunity to participate in such a network. For me, this is an issue of fairness for all those who make their home in rural America.
Cosponsored the Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013 (H.R. 3350) to allow all Americans to keep their health insurance plans that have been cancelled because of Obamacare. This would ensure that the President keeps his promise to the American people that "if you like your plan, you can keep it."
Cosponsored the Rural Hospitals Act of 2013 (H.R. 1787) to extend the Medicare Dependent Hospital and Low Volume payments that provide vital funding to keep rural hospitals in Southwest Virginia operational and treating patients.
Cosponsored the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2013 (H.R. 1733) to shield health care professionals from liability claims when they are volunteering in response to a disaster.
Cosponsored H.R. 2053 to end the Bay State Boondoggle. A Medicare provision was added to Obamacare that allowed for Medicare wage index changes to be paid for out of a national pool of money instead of out of each State's allocation. This means that money is currently being taken away from rural hospitals across Southwest Virginia to pay for hospitals in Massachusetts.
Supported the bipartisan Medicare Patient Access and Quality Improvement Act of 2013 (H.R. 2810) to repeal the SGR formula and replace it with a Medicare system to reimburse doctors on system of quality measures. The framework was advanced by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 23, 2013 by a 51-0 vote.
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