Quigley Outlines Healthcare Priorities, Support for Reform
Congressman Quigley's Support for Comprehensive Health Care Reform
There are over 45 million Americans without health insurance. There are 25 million more who are underinsured. In our 5th District alone, 139,000 people don't have health insurance. That's 21% of our neighbors. Health costs are skyrocketing at a rate 3-times faster than wages, and there's no end in sight. We need to take action, and I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues to achieve a final bill that reflects the needs of the people of Illinois' 5th District.
I'm working toward health care reform that:
-Provides a high-quality, low-cost public insurance option
-Allows you to keep your coverage and doctor if you like them
-Includes significant, long-term cost-cutting mechanisms
-Eliminates co-pays for preventative care
-Closes the Medicare drug doughnut hole to make prescriptions affordable for seniors.
-Invests in primary care physicians and preventative care proven to lower costs
-Protects a woman's right to be able to afford to choose
-Puts the focus where it belongs - on quality of care, not quantity of care
-Holds the insurance companies accountable and ensures they no longer:
- Discriminate for pre-existing conditions or gender
- Drop your coverage because you get sick or become pregnant
- Cap yearly or lifetime coverage
- Incentivize their employees to reject claims
- Charge excessive out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, or co-pays
- Get between decisions made between you and your doctor
-Does not tax employer-provided benefits
-Contains provisions that are sensitive to small businesses, helping them to provide coverage to their workers.