Article by:
Congressman Steven Horsford
In 2013, only a few months after first coming to Congress, I was told I would need major heart surgery due to an underlying health condition. I was 40 years old, in good health, and had no way to know this was coming or to prepare for it.
Thankfully, my family and I were able to weather the unexpected impacts and cost of the surgery, physical therapy, and my appointments before and after the procedure. But that’s not the case for most Americans. In fact, a recent study by the Federal Reserve found that 40% of Americans don’t have $400 in the bank for emergencies—let alone the high out-of-pocket costs often associated with unexpected surgeries, hospitalizations or treatments for chronic conditions. I knew that, for this term in Congress, fighting for health care was of the utmost importance for my constituents.
In 2013, just before the major Affordable Care Act coverage expansions went into effect, 44 million people, or 16.8% of the total non-elderly population were uninsured—nearly 20 percent of all black Americans lacked health insurance. But, under the Affordable Care Act, people of color have experienced large gains in coverage—the uninsured rate for black Americans is now at 11 percent. My fight to protect the ACA is for those who once thought having insurance was out of their reach and are now able to access the care they need to live long, happy and successful lives.
On my very first day in Congress, I voted to allow the House of Representatives to intervene in Texas v. United States to defend the Affordable Care Act--including Nevada’s Medicaid expansion, and protections for Nevadans with pre-existing conditions. I stood up for the 371,000 Nevadans who would lose coverage in 2019 if the ACA were repealed and the roughly 1.2 million Nevadans with private health coverage would lose guaranteed access to free preventative care like immunizations and cancer screenings, according to the Center for American Progress.
Lowering health care and prescription drug costs is my top legislative priority. In my ongoing fight for healthcare access for all Nevadans, I co-sponsored legislation overturning the current administration’s rule allowing short-term ‘junk’ health plans that permit insurance companies to discriminate against Nevadans with pre-existing conditions, and refuse to provide essential health services.
I voted to pass the Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions Act—legislation I co-sponsored to stop the current administration from allowing insurance companies to discriminate against sick Nevadans. More than 1.2 million Nevadans have a pre-existing condition like asthma, diabetes, or cancer. Insurance companies shouldn’t be able to just turn them away.
I then introduced the Health Providers Training Act of 2019 to address the nationwide shortage of healthcare professionals that grants hospitals eligibility for the Health Profession Opportunity Grant Program to train Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients and low-income individuals for positions in the healthcare field expected to be in high demand or experience a labor shortage.
I stood up for Nevadans against rising drug prices and introduced the SPIKE ACT, bipartisan legislation to stop pharmaceutical industry price gouging by requiring them to justify their large price hikes. That legislation passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 40-0.
Just last month, I introduced a new bipartisan bill, the Jumpstart Our Business by Supporting Students Act in the House of Representatives. The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, allowing Federal Pell Grants to students in short-term job training programs.
During these six months, my office has done tremendous work helping Nevadans through thousands of phone calls and hundreds of community meetings and events. I’m proud to be a voice for Nevadans and people of color in Congress. I look forward to continuing to represent you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Representative Horsford is a proven champion for Nevada’s working families. He is committed to standing up to the reckless agenda of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans that is hurting Nevadans’ access to affordable health care and benefiting the wealthy at the expense of Nevada’s middle class.