During COVID, I was hospitalized for a couple of weeks and nearly lost my life. That was a scary time for our family, even with excellent medical insurance — the bills continued to pile up on top of the loss of income due to my illness. Our family had a supportive community, church, and extensive health insurance, but we still felt the squeeze.

 

Republicans in Washington just passed the largest transfer of wealth in American history with their “Big Ugly Bill.” They slashed Medicaid and Medicare, are kicking 15 million people off their health insurance, and raised premiums for millions more — all to give yet another tax break to billionaires. Texas leads the nation in many ways, including having the highest percentage of uninsured residents (16.7%), more than twice the national average, and the highest rate of uninsured children.

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It’s time to take our fight for guaranteed healthcare to our nation’s capital and finally put the lives of Americans over the profits of billionaire mega-donors and special interests. Because healthcare is a human right.

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My Priorities in Congress

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•Lower prescription drug costs: Increase price transparency, strengthen Medicare’s ability to negotiate fair prices, incentivize the development and approval of generic drugs, cap out-of-pocket costs, and regulate pharmacy benefit managers to prevent price gouging.

 

•Protect health coverage and lower premiums: Strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA), restore enhanced premium tax credits, and reverse cuts to Medicare and Medicaid that would kick 15 million Americans off their insurance and raise premiums for millions more.

 

•Save rural hospitals and pharmacies: Strengthen Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates so providers are paid fairly and on time, invest in recruiting and retaining healthcare workers, and ensure rural hospitals and pharmacies have the resources they need to stay open and serve their communities.

 

•Ensure veterans have access to the care they’ve earned: Fully fund the VA, protect it from privatization, and ensure every veteran receives timely, high-quality care. •Allow every American — regardless of age — to join Medicare: Provide an affordable, not-for-profit option that increases competition with private insurance and helps lower costs across the system.

 

•Reform the prior authorization system: Ensure insurance companies cannot deny or delay the medications and treatments that doctors determine are medically necessary.

 

•Restore access to reproductive healthcare in Texas: Codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF so that families can receive the care they need and women no longer face life-threatening barriers.

 

•Protect Americans from crippling medical debt: End abusive debt collection, keep medical debt off credit reports, and make hospital billing and financial assistance easy to understand and use.