Health Reform
![Health professional examining a young patient. Health professional examining a young patient.](https://webharvest.gov/congress115th/20181222002906im_/https://ros-lehtinen.house.gov/sites/ros-lehtinen.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/health.jpg?itok=Fc2x1TlA)
Increasing the affordability of healthcare through common sense reforms is the best way to make sure more Americans will have access to quality healthcare.
I am working to secure, protect, and strengthen the U.S. healthcare system. Our healthcare system must be patient-centered. This means allowing individuals to choose the insurance coverage options that best suit their needs, and broadening the selection of plans to include insurance plans from across state lines.
Healthcare in a country as diverse as ours should not be delivered in a “one size fits all” fashion. Common sense solutions that harness the power of the free market and promote competition have been proven to successfully drive down costs and promote improved choices for consumers.
I know that many people in our community are worried about losing the positive aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA): keeping the option for young people to remain on their parents’ insurance through age 26, the coverage of pre-existing conditions, and premium support for low-income individuals and families are important protections that must remain in place. However, this healthcare law has been in an unsustainable downward spiral since its enactment with families facing fewer choices and higher costs each year as providers and insurers continue to flee the individual marketplaces.
If we want to preserve the good aspects of PPACA, the law will require changes. In particular, we should reduce the burden of the law’s excessive taxes and mandates, especially the “Cadillac” tax that punishes hardworking folks who have negotiated for high-end healthcare benefits from their employers. We must instead encourage transparency and competition so that consumers will see many more affordable options to choose from that suit their individual needs.
But lost in the ongoing healthcare reform debate is the fact that Florida has an opportunity to achieve real gains in healthcare funding coming from the federal government. For too long, the Medicaid funding formula has disadvantaged Floridians. Our delegation needs to come together in bipartisan fashion to ensure our state will finally be receiving its fair share of federal tax dollars.
As part of this effort, I recently led a bipartisan letter with seven of my colleagues from Florida urging the new Administration to work with the State to ensure that our area safety net and specialty children’s hospitals are able to provide for any temporary influx in uncompensated and underinsured medical treatment that may accompany a federal healthcare system transition. The previous Administration cut funding of this program from over $2 billion in 2014 to only $608 million this year. I’m committed to getting these life-saving healthcare dollars flowing back to South Florida.
Increasing the affordability of healthcare through common sense reforms is the best way to make sure more Americans will have access to quality healthcare.