I was never more aware of the importance of health care than after my nephew was born with Down Syndrome and had to have open heart surgery when he was just four months old. Thankfully, my sister’s family had insurance through her employer, and they were able to enroll him in an intervention program when he was just a few months old. Without the coverage they had, they never would have been able to afford the intensive care my nephew received.
I’m committed to making health care more affordable and more accessible for everyone. I voted NO on the largest cut to Medicaid in history, pushed by President Trump and House Republicans. Not only does this cut threaten to take away care for millions of Illinoisans, it was passed simply to pay for massive tax breaks for billionaires. We know that our rural health systems will be hit the hardest by these cuts, and I’ve made it my mission to protect care, bring down costs and find bipartisan solutions to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.
- I’m a founding Member of the Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus where I work on both sides of the aisle to address key rural health access issues such as strengthening our workforce, increasing fairness in hospital reimbursement, and expanding access to telehealth.
- I led the Illinois delegation in supporting our state’s application for critical federal funding to help protect rural health care systems from the devastating cuts in the President’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.” As a result, Illinois received its full funding request. While these funds are only a temporary lifeline, they will be critical in helping rural hospitals and health care providers stay afloat and continue serving their communities.
- I’ve introduced the Rural America Health Corps Act to help bring more health care providers to rural communities and the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act to bring more of Medicare’s medical residency positions to communities like ours in Central and Southern Illinois.
- I’m a co-sponsor of the Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act which would end spread pricing in Medicaid programs, leading to low reimbursement rates for pharmacies, and lower health care costs that are artificially raised by PBMs.
- Prescription drugs are too expensive. And there’s no excuse for pharmaceutical companies to charge consumers hundreds of dollars for insulin. That’s why I’ve cosponsored the Affordable Insulin Now Act to cap the price of insulin at $35 a month for all patients, building on the Inflation Reduction Act’s insulin price cap for Medicare enrollees.
- I’m also proud to lead the Bringing Low-Cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics (BLOCKING) Act, which would help bring more affordable generics to market – bringing down costs for consumers at the pharmacy counter.
- I introduced the Down Syndrome Diagnosis Act, a bipartisan bill to help people like my sister in navigating a child’s Down syndrome diagnosis and ensure that every child receives the high quality care they deserve. I’ve also led my colleagues in supporting funding for the Special Olympics — one of my nephew’s favorite activities.
