Health Care Archives - Congresswoman Cheri Bustos

Making Health Care More Accessible and Affordable

Health care is a deeply personal issue to me.

My sister-in-law, Barb, died several years ago without health insurance. Barb and her husband both worked full-time, but they couldn’t afford health insurance and when she got sick, she couldn’t afford the most effective cancer treatment she needed to survive.

Even those who can afford insurance are not immune to the extremely high costs of operations and prescription medications. A few months after my sister-in-law passed away, my brother Danny died, leaving behind a wife and two daughters. His insurance would not cover his cancer treatment because an experimental drug was required. I support legislation that will help make quality health care more affordable so no families have to go through the suffering my family did.

Another major issue across our nation is the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since the ACA has been implemented, we’ve seen significant improvements in health care delivery. Whether it’s providing free preventative care, expanding Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans, eliminating pre-existing condition discrimination, ending lifetime limits on care or allowing young adults to stay on their parents plan until age 26, by just about every metric, the ACA has been a success.

However, there are always ways that we can build upon these successes and make improvements to reduce health care costs and improve accessibility.

More on Health Care

Press Release

March 26, 2019

As Washington Republicans Again Advocate for Full Repeal of ACA, Bustos and House Democrats Introduce Legislation to Bring Down Health Care Cost for American Families

BREAKING: Trump Administration Argues in Court to Strike Down Entire Affordable Care Act WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) joined House Democrats to introduce the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019. Having worked in health care administration for a decade, this bill continues Congresswoman Bustos’ tireless efforts to […]

Press Release

March 11, 2019

Bustos Statement on President’s Budget Proposal

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17), a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the Trump Administration released its budget for Fiscal Year 2020: “In the Heartland, we pride ourselves on living within our means, rewarding the dignity of hard work and lending a helping hand to our neighbors in need. […]

Press Release

February 5, 2019

Bustos Statement on State of the Union Address

Bustos was Joined by Tom Mueller, a Third-Generation Family Farmer from Edgington BUSTOS: “Farmers cannot ‘choose greatness’ when the president’s trade war is eliminating the very markets where they need to sell their goods.” WASHINGTON – Today, after President Trump’s State of the Union Address, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) issued the following statement: “I was […]

Press Release

January 16, 2019

Bustos Positioned to Fight for Region with Key Appropriations Subcommittee Assignments

Bustos Appointed to Subcommittees on Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) was named to three key subcommittees on the House Appropriations Committee. In addition to driving key priorities on infrastructure and agriculture at the full committee level, her new subcommittee […]