Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

COVID-19 has exposed the problems of our national health care system, like lack of funding for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), hospital capacity, and the fact that access to health insurance coverage remains so closely tied to employment.

Access to affordable health care is critical to quality of life in the Capital Region and to the success of American small businesses trying to compete in a global market. The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is far from a perfect law. That is why we have to respond to challenges in our healthcare system and fix the parts of the ACA that don't work while moving forward with the provisions that do. That is a challenge that both parties in Washington should embrace by rolling up their sleeves and working together to strengthen our uniquely American system for millions of patients and providers.

That challenge will not be met by the continuous attempts by Washington Republicans and President Trump to repeal the ACA. They simply have no plan to replace the law or to provide coverage for the millions that would be left without health care.

In Congress, I have long supported a single-payer system and will continue to do so. One of the first bills I ever cosponsored in Congress was Medicare for All. Until Democrats retake the Senate and the White House, passage of Medicare for All is an uphill battle. In the meantime, we must fight to protect access to affordable care, coverage for pre-existing conditions, lower drug costs, end systemic profiling in our current system, increase funding for local and rural hospitals, and protect the underserved health care rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

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