Restoring Access to Medication and Improving Health Savings Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1270, because Americans should have every opportunity to use how they see fit their health savings accounts or health flexible spending arrangements.

When ObamaCare was passed into law, one of the many things it limited was what health savings accounts could be used for. Under ObamaCare, health savings accounts or flexible spending accounts can only be used for prescription medications and insulin. In other words, if you have a headache, you cannot use the money you have saved for medication services. You would need to either get a prescription for your headache or pay for an over-the-counter drug out of pocket.

I believe one aspect to any successful marketplace is allowing consumers to use their income and resources as they see fit to manage their health. Limitations and control by the government on how Americans can interact with retail businesses is never good, especially in health care. That is why H.R. 1270 is so important.

H.R. 1270 removes the ObamaCare limitation on medication payments for health savings accounts and health flexible spending arrangements so Americans can use their accounts for both over-the-counter medications as well as prescription medications.

We must continue to remove the governmental barriers that limit consumer action and choice. We must work to ensure that every American has choices to make so the U.S. healthcare system remains consumer driven.

I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

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