Health care is a human right, and every single Pennsylvanian deserves access to quality, affordable health care –– now and always. Since day one, I have been committed to strengthening and expanding the Affordable Care Act to improve coverage for all Americans. One of my first priorities in Congress was to introduce legislation to finally make employer-provided insurance work for families by closing the Family Glitch loophole that kept many families from being able to get affordable coverage for spouses and dependents. I am proud that after leading the fight to close the loophole, the Biden Administration has acted to fix the Family Glitch.
Here are my priorities:

● Make life saving prescription drugs affordable. I’m proud to be a leading voice in Congress on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and I’ve kept my pledge to never take a cent from Big Pharma. I fought for and won critical changes to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement to ensure that patients were protected from higher prices. During the COVID-19 crisis, I led an initiative to cap the price of prescription drugs designed to treat medical conditions stemming from the virus, and this year, I voted to limit the price of insulin to $35 per month. One of my proudest days in office was voting yes on the Lower Drug Costs Now Act which would finally give Medicare the ability to negotiate drug prices, and make those lower prices available to all Americans, not just those on Medicare.

● Take bold action to fight and treat the opioid crisis. At every level and from every angle, it is critical that we build a culture of compassion and treatment around the opioid epidemic. I am proud to be an active member of the House Bipartisan Addiction & Mental Health Task Force. Addressing and solving this crisis requires (1) recognizing that drug abuse is a medical problem, not a criminal one; and (2) proactively providing communities with the resources they need to effectively combat it. I am proud that I have worked with my Republican colleagues across the aisle to offer bipartisan support to those suffering from opioid addiction. Our communities have seen firsthand the devastation of the opioid crisis, and we must continue to provide federal support for an epidemic with such widespread effects.

● Bring mental health care out of the shadows. When suicide touched my family three years ago, I made advocating for accessible and affordable mental health care one of my top priorities. Since then, I’ve introduced legislation to address suicide on college campuses and make mental health care easier for families to access. My bill to provide mental health screenings for senior citizens was signed into law as part of the Older Americans Act. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of calls and texts to crisis centers has increased, and it is more important than ever to ensure that we remove the stigma around mental health and that everyone who needs quality mental health care can get it. That’s why I worked so hard to get my bill to improve mental health care and support the health care heroes who saw the worst of the pandemic, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, signed into law.

In the wealthiest nation on earth, no citizen should have to risk bankruptcy, take on a second job to cover health care costs, or make the agonizing choice between putting food on the table or getting care for themselves and their families. My work in Congress is guided by that ironclad belief every single day.