Health Care
As a leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health – the committee in Congress responsible for writing the majority of our nation’s health care laws – I have worked with my colleagues to provide patients with the best possible health care system, encourage medical innovation and advanced research, support our medical practitioners, and create better pathways for new cures to find their way to patients.
I believe the best health care is provided when doctors and patients decide on a health care plan, not when a government bureaucrat in Washington sets care standards. That is why I have worked tirelessly to deliver a better health care system for you.
We have the highest quality health care in the world, but our health care – from insurance to prescription drugs – costs way too much. That’s why I’ve spent so much time and effort working on and finding solutions for you and your family to make health care more affordable in part by bringing down your prescription drug costs and out-of-pocket expenses. I am working with my colleagues every day to find bipartisan solutions that will bring down the cost of health care.
This Congress, I have championed legislation to:
- Lower drug costs at the pharmacy counter;
- Encourage the development of treatments and cures for rare pediatric diseases and cancers;
- Improve and expand newborn screening panels to focus on rare diseases;
- Protect pre-existing conditions;
- Reauthorize our public health programs in a fiscally responsible way;
- Improve Alzheimer’s care and research;
- Repeal onerous health care taxes that drive up costs;
- Encourage more active households through tax credits;
In the 114th Congress, an Energy and Commerce led health initiative called the 21st Century Cures Act was signed into law. This innovative and bipartisan package of health care legislation advances the discovery, development, and delivery of life-saving treatments and cures. It is an excellent example of what can happen when Republicans and Democrats come together for a common goal.
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We know there are certain controllable factors that affect our risk of developing cancer. Whether you smoke, what you eat and drink, and how often you exercise can all play a role.
We are also aware that some factors are out of our control, like family history of the disease. What most people do not know, however, is that our ZIP code has an effect on how we experience cancer.
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (AL-07), Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), and Richard Hudson (NC-08) have introduced the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, legislation to ensure timely Medicare coverage of groundbreaking early cancer detection tests for our nation’s seniors. The bipartisan legislation promotes emerging advances in our nation’s fight against cancer by ensuring Medicare coverage for new, innovative tests that detect multiple types of cancer before symptoms develop.
Residents who live near the Chemours plant south of Fayetteville that has been discharging a potential carcinogen into the water supply for years could know by mid-winter of the possible health threat, officials said Tuesday.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a scientific study to evaluate the “toxicity” of the GenX compound that has been emitted for years from the Chemours plant, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told officials at a roundtable discussion in Fayetteville on Tuesday.