Health Care

Obamacare:

The Fiscal Year 2016 Reconciliation bill repealed some of the most harmful parts of Obamacare. This bill was first passed by the Budget Committee, of which Congressman Mooney is a Member. He voted for the bill in Committee and on the Floor. Congressman Mooney believes that Obamacare should be replaced with patient-centered policies.

• Congressman Mooney voted to repeal the harmful Medical Device Tax provision of Obamacare.
  • This tax was harmful because it hindered the ability of companies to continue manufacturing life-saving treatments, like insulin pumps and oxygen tanks.

Meaningful Use:

Congressman Mooney advocates for doctors who have been harmed by the Administration’s meaningful use standards. The HITECH Act, signed into law in 2009, requires doctors to make “meaningful use” of electronic health records. While electronic health records can be useful and important, the benchmarks required by this legislation are too much too soon. Many doctors cannot keep up with the requirements and need more time to comply with them.

• Cosponsor of H.R. 3940- Meaningful Use Hardship Act- would protect physicians from penalties from not complying with Meaningful Use Stage 2.
• Cosponsor of H.R. 3309- FLEX-IT 2 Act- halts all rulemaking on meaningful use until at least 75% of hospitals have had time to comply with the requirements already in place.
• Congressman Mooney signed a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services and Office of Management and Budget calling for a delay in Meaningful Use stage 3.

Diseases:

Congressman Mooney is passionate about helping people who suffer from diseases in our district. In the Second Congressional District we have high incidence rates of arthritis, diabetes, and various cancers.

• He is a member of the Congressional Arthritis Caucus.
• He cosponsored H.R.1427-the Medicare CGM Access Act, which would require Medicare to cover the cost of life-saving continuous glucose monitors for people with diabetes.
• He is a cosponsor of H.R. 1220- Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2015, which would require Medicare to cover patient colonoscopies whether a polyp is found and removed or not.

Rural Healthcare:

• Congressman Mooney is a co-sponsor of H.R. 663- the Rural Hospital Access Act
• Congressman Mooney fights for critical access hospitals. He, and the entire West Virginia delegation, have sent two letters to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on behalf of our state’s critical access hospitals.
• The Congressman is a cosponsor of H.R. 592-Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act- this bill would allow pharmacists to be reimbursed for care they provide, such as diabetes and nutrition counseling. This is needed in rural areas where a doctor might be far away and a pharmacist might be the only healthcare provider a patient has access to. 

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