Issue Position: Working to Improve Healthcare

Issue Position

Congresswoman Sánchez believes our families deserve access to quality and affordable healthcare. Working families should not have to choose between paying for their medical bills or affording other life necessities such as food.

* Helping Americans Gain Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs - Congresswoman Sánchez continues to press for the implementation of the "Pharmaceutical Market Access Act," (H.R. 328) which would allow Americans to save money by purchasing prescription drugs from developed countries who sell the same drugs for less. Americans pay too much for prescription drugs, while foreigners can buy the exact same drugs - often made in the U.S. - at much lower prices.

* Fighting For Government Negotiated Prescription Drug Prices - Congresswoman Sánchez is working to make changes to the "Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act," (which became law on November 22, 2003). That's why she is sponsoring the "Medicare's Equitable Drugs for Seniors Act," (H.R. 376) which would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate fair prices for Medicare prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries.

* Preparing the Country for a Pandemic - Public health officials have raised serious concerns about the devastating effect that a major outbreak of avian flu could have on vulnerable populations, such as children and seniors. That is why Congresswoman Sánchez is sponsoring the "Pandemic Preparedness and Response Act," (H.R. 4062) which creates a comprehensive national plan to protect the American public against this growing danger.

* Requiring Accountability in the Healthcare System - Increasingly large, profitable companies are choosing not to provide health care coverage to their employees. This forces more and more working people to rely on a public health care system that was designed to provide for the most needy. To expose how this is draining government coffers, Congresswoman Sánchez is sponsoring the "Health Care Accountability Act," H.R. 3042.

* Investigating New Cures for Diseases like Alzheimer's - America has led the world in finding new cures to diseases, and federal funding for disease research has played an integral part. That is why Congresswoman Sánchez introduced legislation to double the National Institute of Health's funding for research into Alzheimer's disease.

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