There are few issues that touch the lives of every resident as much as health care, and our country has made important progress. But, Stephen Lynch believes that much more needs to be done.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowed young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plan to the age of 26, prohibited discrimination for pre-existing conditions or health status, eliminated annual or lifetime caps for coverage and has helped to lower the cost of care and prescription drugs for our seniors. Those accomplishments made a tremendous difference, but the ACA had significant shortcomings, the most important being that health care costs remain out of reach for many Americans. The ACA allowed insurance companies to be exempt from antitrust laws which protects them from competition and allows them to charge higher prices. In addition, the ACA targeted union health care plans with egregious taxes (54% in total). A public option was also stripped from the final plan. Because of these shortcomings, many families still struggle to afford high premiums and deductibles associated with their plans.

Stephen has fought against 65 Republican attempts to repeal the ACA in order to safeguard the progress made. He is committed to building upon the foundations of the ACA by creating a strong public option that would compete against private insurers. In addition, he joined a successful effort to permanently repeal the tax on union plans (the Cadillac Tax) and the tax on medical devices. Stephen supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act that strengthens the Affordable Care Act, enhances Medicaid benefits and expands access to them, and addresses the rising costs of prescription drugs through price negotiation and other measures.

Knowing that we can’t have quality health care without affordable prescription drugs, Stephen both co-sponsored and supported legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drugs – something that was left out of the original Affordable Care Act legislation. 

Stephen also believes that Medicare and Medicaid are critical to affordable and accessible healthcare and must be protected. In Massachusetts alone, there are nearly 1.6 M individuals and children who receive health care coverage under Medicaid and over 1.3 seniors and individuals with disabilities who are currently enrolled in Medicare. Stephen will fight to be sure these vital programs are available to our most vulnerable. He also continues to be a strong advocate for increased access to preventative care, supporting both our Community Health Centers where our most vulnerable seek care, as well as our teaching hospitals who are training the next generation of health care workers. 

As your Congressman, Stephen will continue to fight to protect and improve the ACA to ensure accessible, affordable and high-quality care for the people of the 8th District.