Rep. Beyer Votes to Pass Patient Protection & Affordable Care Enhancement Act

WASHINGTON, July 1 -- Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia, issued the following news release:

Rep. Beyer joined House Democrats to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and lower health costs and prescription drug prices for all Americans by voting for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. The House passed the bill, which contains Beyer's legislation to protect individuals with preexisting conditions, days after the Trump Administration filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entirety of the ACA.

"The American people have been clear that they expect progress, not politics, when it comes to healthcare, and that's what this bill accomplishes," said Beyer. "This legislation represents a step forward to increase affordability and expand coverage for all Americans at a time when so many desperately need it, and a stark contrast with the Administration's outrageous legal campaign to sabotage Americans' health care amid a global pandemic."

The bill significantly increases the ACA's affordability subsidies to be more generous and cover more middle-class families. For the first time, no person will have to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for a benchmark silver plan in the ACA marketplaces, and many Americans will see their premiums cut in half or more:

A family of four earning $40,000 would save nearly $1,600 in premiums each year.

A 64-year-old earning $57,420 would save more than $8,700 in premiums each year.

A single adult with income of $31,900 would see premiums cut in half.

An adult earning $19,140 would see premiums cut to zero, saving $800 dollars a year.

The bill negotiates for lower prescription drug prices, delivering the power to negotiate lower drug prices so that Americans no longer have to pay more for our medicines than Big Pharma charges 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 by Big Pharma, 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.

The bill expands coverage, pressing Medicaid expansion hold-out states with new carrots and sticks to adopt coverage for the 4.8 million Americans cruelly 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.

The bill combats inequity in health coverage faced by communities of color, expanding more affordable coverage to vulnerable populations and fighting the maternal mortality epidemic by requiring states to extend Medicaid or CHIP coverage to new mothers for a full year post-partum.

The bill cracks down on junk plans & strengthens protections for people with pre-existing conditions, reversing the Trump Administration's expansion of junk 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.