Rep. Kaptur Votes to Strengthen Americans' Access to High-Quality, Affordable Healthcare

WASHINGTON, June 30 -- Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, issued the following news release:

Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), senior Member of the House Appropriations Committee, voted in support of H.R. 1425, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Enhancement Act. The legislation takes dramatic steps to lower the costs of healthcare and prescription drugs, expand access to affordable healthcare, and strengthen protections for people with preexisting conditions.

"Just last week, the Trump Administration renewed its effort in federal court to strike down the Affordable Care Act, which if successful, would strip affordable healthcare away from millions of Americans," said Rep. Kaptur. "The fact that President Trump would do this in the middle of a deadly, global pandemic is beyond comprehension. Without the Affordable Care Act, individuals who survived COVID-19 but are experiencing reduced lung function or other health issues as a result could be labeled with a preexisting condition and see their premiums go up. This legislation would take positive steps to reform the way our country approaches affordable healthcare by lowering Americans' healthcare costs, reducing the costs of prescription medication, and expanding access to high quality care. I thank my colleagues on the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor Committees for their leadership advancing such a strong bill and encourage my colleagues in the Senate to take up the measure without delay."

Lowers Americans' health coverage costs

* Expands tax credits to lower Americans' Marketplace health insurance premiums and allow more middle-class individuals and families to qualify for subsidies - for the first time, no person will pay more than 8.5 percent of their income on a silver plan in the Marketplaces:

- 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.

* Ensures that families who don't have an offer of affordable family coverage from an employer can qualify for subsidies in the Marketplaces.

* Provides funding for reinsurance initiatives to further lower premiums, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs.

Negotiates lower prescription drug prices

* Includes the transformational drug price negotiation mechanism from the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, (H.R. 3), which delivers immense savings to taxpayers, employers, workers and patients by preventing Americans from having to pay so much more for our medicines than pharmaceutical companies charge for the same drugs overseas.

Expands coverage & pushes hold-out states to adopt Medicaid expansion

* Presses Medicaid expansion hold-out states to reconsider by renewing the ACA's original expanded federal matching for states that adopt the Medicaid expansion and progressively reducing administrative FMAP for those who continue to refuse. More than 4.8 million Americans have been cruelly excluded from coverage because states have refused to expand Medicaid.

* Funds critical federal and state efforts to increase health coverage enrollment, educate consumers of their health care rights, and help individuals navigate the health insurance system.

* Delivers funding for states who want to establish their own state-based Marketplaces.

Combats inequity in health coverage faced by communities of color

* Fights the maternal mortality epidemic by requiring states to extend Medicaid or CHIP coverage to new mothers for 1-year post-partum.

* Protects vulnerable populations from losing health coverage by ensuring that Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries receive a full 12 months of coverage once enrolled, protecting them from interruptions due to fluctuations in their income throughout the year.

* Improves Medicaid beneficiaries' access to primary care physicians, by reauthorizing the ACA's increased payments to primary care physicians who treat Medicaid recipients.

Cracks down on junk plans & strengthens protections for people with pre-existing conditions

* Reverses 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.

* Curtails the Trump Administration's harmful efforts to give states waivers to undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and weaken standards for essential health benefits.