Congressman Horsford on Texas v. United States and the Latest Attempt to Strip Americans of Their Access to Health Coverage
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) released the following statement on Texas v. United States, the next round of litigation challenging the Affordable Care Act:
"The Trump Administration has spent more than two years trying to take health coverage away from 100 million Americans and 1.2 million people in my home state of Nevada. They tried and failed to pass legislation that would have repealed the ACA and ripped health coverage from millions of Americans while raising healthcare costs across the board. Now, they're trying to use the court system to take away people's health care.
On my very first day in Congress, I voted to allow the House of Representatives to intervene in this case to defend the Affordable Care Act—including Nevada's Medicaid expansion, and protections for Nevadans with pre-existing conditions. I have repeatedly fought for the 371,000 Nevadans who would lose coverage in 2019 if the ACA were repealed and the roughly 1.2 million Nevadans with private health coverage would lose guaranteed access to free preventative care like immunizations and cancer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.
Nevada was the first state under a Republican Governor to expand Medicaid and implement insurance exchanges. These actions have expanded coverage to thousands, and help cut our state's uninsured rate in half. I will not allow those Nevadans who now have access to affordable health care to go backward in time and I am committed to working with Governor Sisolak and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford to do everything in our power to protect those whose health care is on the line."
Expanding health care access and reducing costs for all Nevadans is a top priority for Congressman Horsford. He has fought 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 & Means Committee on a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 40-0.
Congressman Horsford also voted to pass the Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions Act—legislation he co-sponsored to stop the Trump Administration from allowing insurance companies to discriminate against sick Nevadans. He co-sponsored legislation overturning the Trump 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.
In June, Congressman Horsford 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.