Guest opinion
Barber: Health care reform far from perfect
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court carefully weighed in on Congress's 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Although the court upheld major portions of the act, it is far from perfect.
The Affordable Care Act included several important reforms – banning insurance companies from rejecting coverage for sick people with pre-existing conditions, ending discrimination against women, removing the cap on medical expenses and closing the doughnut hole that cost seniors so much money for medication.
It also helps improve the solvency of Medicare's Trust fund and reduces costs for seniors' preventive care.
In Congress, I will work to ensure the full implementation of those provisions of the law, and to address needs that remain unmet. We must reduce the skyrocketing cost of care, which is damaging our economy and making it unaffordable for many Americans and small businesses.
I will work toward the following:
- We must protect small businesses, individuals and families from increased premium costs
- We must focus on paying for prevention and outcome-based healthcare
- We must lower the price of prescription drugs
- We must ensure there are no cuts to Medicare
There is more work for Congress to do to ensure that Americans have access to affordable quality health care.
Ron Barber is the U.S. representative from Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.
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