Health Care Archives - Congresswoman Cheri Bustos

Making Health Care More Accessible and Affordable

Health care is a deeply personal issue to me.

My sister-in-law, Barb, died several years ago without health insurance. Barb and her husband both worked full-time, but they couldn’t afford health insurance and when she got sick, she couldn’t afford the most effective cancer treatment she needed to survive.

Even those who can afford insurance are not immune to the extremely high costs of operations and prescription medications. A few months after my sister-in-law passed away, my brother Danny died, leaving behind a wife and two daughters. His insurance would not cover his cancer treatment because an experimental drug was required. I support legislation that will help make quality health care more affordable so no families have to go through the suffering my family did.

Another major issue across our nation is the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since the ACA has been implemented, we’ve seen significant improvements in health care delivery. Whether it’s providing free preventative care, expanding Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans, eliminating pre-existing condition discrimination, ending lifetime limits on care or allowing young adults to stay on their parents plan until age 26, by just about every metric, the ACA has been a success.

However, there are always ways that we can build upon these successes and make improvements to reduce health care costs and improve accessibility.

More on Health Care

Press Release

November 30, 2018

Congresswoman Bustos Announces More Than $8 Million In Grants For Local Health Centers

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos announced that health centers across the district will receive $8,251,258 in total grant funding. These federal dollars were awarded through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Center Cluster Program that helps community-based health care organizations provide primary care for underserved communities. “All hardworking Americans should have access […]

Press Release

September 28, 2018

Congresswoman Bustos Statement on House Passage of Opioid Package

Bustos included key provisions to increase access for treatment in rural communities and protect children born with opioid dependence WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos released the following statement regarding the passage of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act in the House, a bipartisan package of legislation designed to address the opioid epidemic that […]

Press Release

September 19, 2018

DURBIN AND BUSTOS HIGHLIGHT KEY PROVISIONS IN FIGHT AGAINST OPIOID EPIDEMIC

Package includes prevention and treatment measures on DEA quotas, infant opioid dependence, telemedicine and child trauma ROCK ISLAND – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos today discussed their work to address the opioid epidemic. The Senate passed an opioid package on Monday and the House passed similar legislation in June. These bills […]

Press Release

August 22, 2018

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos Announces Grant for Mercer County Health Department to Improve Mental Health Care Access

Aledo, IL – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced a Rural Health Outreach Grant for the Mercer County Health Department from the Health Resources and Services Administration. These grants focus on enhancing access to care and addressing challenges to health services in rural communities. Specifically, the Mercer County Mental Health Consortium will implement the Mercer […]