Rep. Beatty Votes to Boost Healthcare Coverage and Lower Costs for Ohio 3rd Congressional District Families

WASHINGTON, June 30 -- Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, issued the following news release:

In the wake of the Trump Administration's latest push to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and gut protections for pre-existing conditions as well as strip healthcare coverage from 20 million Americans, U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) joined a majority of her Congressional colleagues to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act, H.R. 1425.

"At a time when countless individuals and working families in Ohio's Third Congressional District and across the nation are facing rising costs and uncertainty, it is unconscionable that the White House is doubling down on its efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and jeopardize the health and safety of all Ohioans during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Beatty said. "That is why House Democrats took decisive action today to lower the cost of healthcare coverage and prescription drugs prices, expand coverage and build on the progress of the Affordable Care Act--not to mention combat health inequities faced by communities of color."

If enacted into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act would:

* Lower healthcare costs by dramatically expanding the ACA's insurance affordability subsidies to cover more middle-class families and to be more generous for those already receiving them. Many enrollees will see their premiums cut by half or more and, for the first time, no one will have to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for a silver plan in the ACA marketplaces.

* Allow negotiation for lower prescription drug prices so that Americans no longer pay more for their medicines than pharmaceutical companies charge for the same drugs overseas. According to a new report from Patients for Affordable Drugs, from January to June, 245 drugs were subject to an average price increase of more than 20 percent. Of these drugs with price hikes, more than 75 percent directly relate to the COVID-19 crisis, including 30 drugs that are currently in clinical trials for their effect against the virus.

* Expand coverage by pressing Medicaid expansion hold-out states with new incentives to adopt coverage for the 4.8 million Americans currently excluded from coverage, while restoring the outreach and advertising funding that the Trump Administration has slashed to prevent Americans from learning about the affordable health coverage available to them under the ACA.

* Combat inequity in health coverage faced by communities of color by expanding more affordable coverage to vulnerable populations and fighting the infant mortality epidemic by mandating States to extend Medicaid or CHIP coverage to new mothers for a full year post-partum.

* Crack down on 'junk plans' and strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions by reversing the Trump Administration's expansion of substandard health insurance plans that do not provide coverage for essential medical treatments and drugs and that are allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing medical conditions.