HEALTH CARE

When it comes to achieving health care coverage for every American, Congressman Neal’s focus has always been on what Congress can do to deliver positive change to the people, right away. That’s why he helped write the Affordable Care Act, which finally made health insurance obtainable for tens of millions of Americans.

While Republicans tried to take affordable healthcare away from nearly 130 million people with pre-existing conditions, Congressman Neal is working to cover more people and make coverage more affordable.

His commitment to protecting health care for those across the Commonwealth is unwavering.

Access to Care

• Rep. Neal pushed the Administration to provide critical flexibilities in where critical access hospitals can reside— thanks to this change, the North Adams Regional Hospital will be able to reopen providing a vital health care access point to the region.

• Rep. Neal lowered the cost of health insurance premiums by an average of $2,400 per family for people who buy coverage on their own and prevented more than three million Americans from losing their health insurance coverage by extending vital tax credits for the ACA marketplaces through 2025.

• Rep. Neal ushered through important changes to prior authorization in Medicare, cracking down on insurance companies making patients jump through unnecessary hoops to get needed care in Medicare. Neal passed these in Committee and off the House floor, but were finalized through Medicare rules. With the endless ads telling seniors to enroll in plans, Rep. Neal also supports programs that provide unbiased information about Medicare to help them make enrollment decisions and navigate the program.

• Rep. Neal is investing in more physicians and other health professionals. Massachusetts trains the top doctors in the world, and Rep. Neal is investing in graduate medical education to reduce the physician shortage in the United States.

• Rep. Neal led efforts to protect patients from surprise medical bills. Recognizing that millions in the US still don’t have insurance, he demanded that fair cost estimates be made available for the uninsured and fought for continuity of care protections for Americans with chronic conditions.

Prescription Drugs

Americans should not have to pay three times more for medications than people in other countries do. The top drug companies had $110 billion in profits last year, paying their CEOs an average of about $36 million each. Yet, many Americans don’t take their medications because of high drug prices. Prescription medicines cannot work if people cannot afford to take them, and high drug prices are keeping too many Americans from the health care they need.

Rep. Neal’s historic steps to take on high drug prices and bring down out-of-pocket prescription drug costs:

• Empowered Medicare to negotiate lower prices with drug companies.

• Capped out-of-pocket prescription costs at $2,000 for people with Medicare Part D.

• Capped the cost of insulin for people on Medicare at $35 per month.

• Eliminated out-of-pocket costs for vaccines in Medicare.

• Required drug companies to pay a penalty to Medicare if they raise prices faster than inflation.

• But there is more work to be done. Rep. Neal introduced the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act (HR 4895), building on the successes above – which expands the number of drugs Medicare has the power to negotiate, allows people with private insurance to get access to these negotiated prices, and require drug companies pay a penalty when they raise prices faster than inflation for people with private and employer-based health insurance.

Cures and Innovation

Rep. Neal has tirelessly invested in health research, bringing funds back to the Commonwealth. Just last year, Rep. Neal was instrumental in bringing the Investor Catalyst Hub for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a part of the National Institutes of Health that focuses on accelerating innovative health care solutions.

Rep. Neal spearheaded the Coalition for Health Advancement and Research in Massachusetts (CHARM), a public-private partnership that led to ARPA-H choosing Massachusetts as a hub and bringing millions in investment and research to the Commonwealth.

Ensuring Dignity for Older Americans

Congressman Neal was the lead author of The Elder Justice Reauthorization and Modernization Act, introduced in the 117th and 118th Congresses. It commits dedicated funding to vital programs shown to address the needs of vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities. The addition of updated and new policies to address medical-legal needs, social isolation, and post-acute and long-term care workforce investments further address policy gaps to protect seniors.

To address the issues facing nursing homes, he introduced the Nursing Home Ownership and Accountability Act. It provides investment in the foundation of nursing home care, filling much-needed gaps in transparency, accountability, quality of care, and staffing to ensure nursing homes are better prepared to face future public health emergencies.

Health Equity and Rural and Underserved Healthcare

To address the needs of rural and underserved communities, Congressman Neal released a report titled "Left Out: Barriers to Health Equity for Rural and Underserved Communities.” It analyzed the barriers to health care in underserved communities and the challenges associated with scalable, sustainable solutions. The report includes new qualitative analysis to help inform the current debate.

Climate Crisis and Health

The healthcare industry is responsible for an estimated 8.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

Beginning in March 2022, Chairman Neal sent out a series of requests for information (RFIs) to hospitals, health systems, other facility-based health providers, and group purchasing organizations to better understand how climate events have impacted the health sector, as well as steps the health care industry is taking to address its role in mitigating the climate crisis. These are ongoing efforts so the health care industry can identify ways to move towards greener alternatives where appropriate.