Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

While far from perfect, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) made many significant improvements to our health care system by giving patients more control over their health care coverage and by holding insurance companies accountable. Because of this legislation, people with pre-existing conditions are no longer denied health care, insurance companies are prevented from dropping or rescinding coverage when a person gets sick or injured, parents are able to keep their children on their health plans until a child's 26th birthday, and families are protected from medical bankruptcy by placing a limit on yearly out-of-pocket costs. The ACA puts patients back in control of their health care.

Nevertheless, I believe that the ACA has flaws and can be improved. I have spoken with my constituents and business owners across the 8th District who agree that safeguards should be put in place so our businesses are not unfairly burdened. We need to keep the parts of the bill that improve access to affordable health care coverage for individuals and families and fix the parts that could potentially hurt small businesses. That is why I voted to delay the mandate for employers to offer their full-time employees coverage until we make sure that the ACA does not hurt our small businesses or lead to more unemployment. I am also a cosponsor of the Forty Hours Is Full Time Act of 2013, which would change the ACA's definition of "full-time employment" from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week when applying the employer mandate.

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