| Ensuring Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care |
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On November 7, 2009, I joined my colleagues in the
House of Representatives to pass H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care
for America Act. This legislation will reform our nation’s health
insurance system, make health coverage more affordable and accessible,
and increase the quality of care for all Americans. As a member of the
Energy and Commerce Committee, I have been honored to participate in the health insurance reform process over the past year, and fight for the inclusion of
key preventive care and wellness provisions in the comprehensive
legislation. To read how H.R. 3962 will affect Sacramentans, please click here. To view a copy of the Affordable Health Care for American Act, H.R. 3926, click here . To view a bill summary, detailed fact sheets and more information on what the health insurance reform will mean for Americans, click here.
The state of our health insurance system impacts all Americans, insured and uninsured alike. Throughout the national debate over health insurance reform, I have listened to and visited with many Sacramentans including community members, families, seniors, doctors, nurses and small business owners. As the debate over health insurance reform continues, I would like to continue hearing from you about your thoughts, recommendations and concerns on this important topic.
In the most affluent country in the world, every American should have access to quality, affordable health care. Congresswoman Matsui firmly believes that this is a right that should be afforded to every American, particularly children, and strongly supports expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). She supports investments into Medicare and Medicaid, and opposes cuts to these critical services. Congresswoman Matsui believes that by providing quality health care and preventative services to everyone, substantial costs can be avoided down the road as general health improves. By investing today in the health of all Americans, we can make sure that the next generation of Americans grows up healthier than the last. The key components of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962 include:INCREASING CHOICE AND COMPETITION: The bill will protect and improve consumers’ choices. • If people like their current plans, they will be able to keep them. • For individuals who aren’t currently covered by their employer, and some small businesses, the proposal will establish a new Health Insurance Exchange where consumers can comparison shop from a menu of affordable, quality health care options that will include private plans, health co-ops, and a new public health insurance option. The public health insurance option will play on a level playing field with private insurers, spurring additional competition. • This Exchange will create competition based on quality and price that leads to better coverage and care. Patients and doctors will have control over decisions about their health care, instead of insurance companies. GIVING AMERICANS PEACE OF MIND: The legislation will ensure that Americans have portable, secure health care coverage – so that they won’t lose care if their employer drops their plan or they lose their job. • Every American who receives coverage through the Exchange will have a plan that includes standardized, comprehensive and quality health care benefits. • It will end increases in premiums or denials of care based on pre-existing conditions, race, or gender, and strictly limit age rating. • The proposal will also eliminate co-pays for preventive care, and cap out-of-pocket expenses to protect every American from bankruptcy. IMPROVING QUALITY OF CARE FOR EVERY AMERICAN: The legislation will ensure that Americans of all ages, from young children to retirees have access to greater quality of care by focusing on prevention, wellness, and strengthening programs that work. • Guarantees that every child in America will have health care coverage that includes dental, hearing and vision benefits. • Provides better preventive and wellness care. Every health care plan offered through the exchange and by employers after a grace period will cover preventive care at no cost to the patient. • Increases the health care workforce to ensure that more doctors and nurses are available to provide quality care as more Americans get coverage. • Strengthens Medicare and Medicaid and closes the Medicare Part D “donut hole” so that seniors and low-income Americans receive better quality of care and see lower prescription drug costs and out-of-pocket expenses. ENSURING SHARED RESPONSIBILITY: The bill will ensure that individuals, employers, and the federal government share responsibility for a quality and affordable health care system. • Employers can continue offering coverage to workers, and those who choose not offer coverage contribute a fee of eight percent of payroll. • All individuals will generally be required to get coverage, either through their employer or the exchange, or pay a penalty of 2.5 percent of income, subject to a hardship exemption. • The federal government will provide affordability credits, available on a sliding scale for low- and middle-income individuals and families to make premiums affordable and reduce cost-sharing. PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND REDUCING WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE: The legislation will put the interests of consumers first, protect them from problems in getting and keeping health care coverage, and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse. • Provides transparency in plans in the Health Exchange so that consumers have the clear, complete information, in plain English, needed to select the plan that best meets their needs. • Establishes consumer advocacy offices as part of the Exchange in order to protect consumers, answer questions, and assist with any problems related to their plans. • Simplifies paperwork and other administrative burdens. Patients, doctors, nurses, insurance companies, providers, and employers will all encounter a streamlined, less confusing, more consumer friendly system. • Increases funding of efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse; creates enhanced oversight of Medicare and Medicaid programs. REDUCING THE DEFICIT AND ENSURING THE SOLVENCY OF MEDICARE AND MEDICAID. The legislation will be entirely paid for – it will not add a dime to the deficit. It will also put Medicare and Medicaid on the path to a more fiscally sound future, so seniors and low-income Americans can continue to receive the quality health care benefits for years to come. • Pays for the entire cost of the legislation though a combination of savings achieved by making Medicare and Medicaid more efficient – without cutting seniors’ benefits in any way – and revenue generated from placing a surcharge the top 0.3 percent of all households in the U.S.(married couples with adjusted gross income of over $1,000,000) and other tax measures. • The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will reduce the deficit by at least $100 billion over ten years. • Estimates also show the bill will slow the rate of growth of the Medicare program from 6.6 percent annually to 5.3 percent annually. Health Care for Children Congresswoman Matsui is deeply committed to making sure that all children have quality health care. She has consistently voted to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The Children’s Health Insurance Program provides health coverage to American children whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid, but can not afford private insurance. SCHIP can bring health coverage to approximately ten million children in need – preserving coverage for all 6.6 million children currently covered by SCHIP, and reaching millions more low-income, uninsured American children in the next five years. Eighty-six percent of children covered by the SCHIP program are in working families that are unable to obtain or afford private health insurance for their children. The program is crucial for both our children in our country’s rural and urban areas. In rural areas, one in three children has health care coverage through SCHIP or Medicaid. In urban areas, it is one in four. SCHIP has also had a dramatic effect in reducing the number of uninsured minority children. After SCHIP was enacted, the number of uninsured African American children dropped from 20 percent to 12 percent; the number of uninsured Latino children dropped from 30 percent to 21 percent, and the number of uninsured Asian American children dropped from 18 percent to 8 percent. Additionally, health care through SCHIP is cost effective. It costs only $3.34 dollars a day to cover a child under SCHIP, according to the Congressional Budget Office. National Children's Study In 2007, Congresswoman Matsui launched a Congressional Working Group to maintain awareness and funding for the National Children's Study. The Children's Study is the largest longitudinal study ever taken to examine the environmental causes of childhood health risks, including autism, asthma, and diabetes. By tracking children across the country from birth to the age of 21, the Study is poised to answer some of the most perplexing questions regarding childhood health today. Click here to visit the Children's Study Working Group website. Health Care for Seniors
Preserving Medicare is a top priority for Congresswoman Matsui, and has fought to maintain federal funding for this vital service. She working to prevent the scheduled 10 percent cut to physician payments, and create a path to a better payment system for physicians. Unless Congress acts with updates to reflect the increasing cost of running a medical practice, physicians in Medicare will receive a 10 percent reduction in fees and an estimated 5 percent patient reduction each year. For more information about Medicare Part D, click here. Research and Development Sacramento is home to some of the country's most cutting-edge medical facilities and research centers. By maintaining active research projects, including Stem Cell research, the next generation of Americans will grow up healthier than the last. Research will lead to preventative cures and treatments, saving taxpayers money for years to come. Congresswoman Matsui believes that federal resources should be utilized for these activities in order to help the more than 100 million Americans suffer from cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other debilitating diseases and disorders for which embryonic stem cell research holds great promise in finding new and better treatments and cures.
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Washington DC Office 222 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 p: 202.225.7163 f: 202.225.0566 |
Sacramento, CA Office Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse 501 I Street, Suite 12-600 Sacramento, CA 95814 p: 916.498.5600 |
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