Health Care

Quality and accessible health care is a very personal matter for me and my family, as it is for families across the country. When my daughter was born she was very sick. But due to an insurance company rule, I was forced to leave the hospital just 24 hours after she was born. I went to the state legislature and got one of the first laws passed in the country guaranteeing new moms and their babies a 48-hour hospital stay. That experience led me to run for office and fight for common-sense health care solutions like the Affordable Care Act and passing my bill to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices on behalf of our nation’s 53 million seniors with Medicare Part D drug coverage.
Comprehensive health care reform—the Affordable Care Act—was passed into law in 2010 with my strong advocacy and support and is a vital source of protection to every American. The legislation prohibits abusive practices like denying coverage and care to those with preexisting conditions, or setting annual or lifetime limits on coverage. The Affordable Care Act also ensures health care plans cover with no out-of-pocket cost recommended preventative services such as cancer screenings, allows young people up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ plan, and closed the “donut hole” coverage gap in Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage.
I have always said that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a beginning, not an end, and that improvements need to be made at both the state and federal levels. In the past, Congress increased ACA insurance premium tax credits, expanded eligibility for them to more middle class Americans, and capped the amount people pay for Affordable Care Act and MNsure health insurance premiums to no more than 8.5 percent of income. We also reduced red tape for people eligible for Medicaid coverage and allowed new moms to stay covered by Medicaid for up to 12 months after giving birth. 89,500 Minnesotans are each saving hundreds of dollars each month on MNsure health premiums because of these enhanced ACA tax credits. This year, eligible households in Minnesota have an annual average ACA tax credit of $6,518, which automatically lowers their insurance premiums, and Minnesota has had its lowest uninsured rate ever.
I have been working to extend these improved premium tax credits beyond December 2025 so that families can continue to have access to affordable quality health insurance. However, in 2025 Republicans in Congress voted down extending these improved premium tax credits. Instead, Congressional Republicans’ budget bill signed into law by President Trump cuts over $1 trillion in federal funding from Medicaid and ACA health coverage. As a result, 15 million people will lose their health care in the coming years, and more than 300 rural hospitals and 500 nursing homes will close across the country.
To help families thrive, we need to improve our health care system, not undercut it. I strongly believe that every American needs access to affordable and accessible, high-quality health care. I support proposals that would help reach that goal, including theStabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Actso make sure people have to submit paperwork no more than once a year to stay covered; theState Public Option Actto give states the option of allowing all of their residents—regardless of income—to enroll in Medicaid coverage; theMedicare-X Choice Act, which would enable Americans to buy a public health insurance plan based on Medicare; and legislation extending Medicare to people age 50 and over.
In addition to improving access to services and cutting red tape, I am focused on the need to rein in costs. We must put an end to sky-high prices of prescription drugs. Americans pay an average of 300 percent more for their brand-name prescription drugs than people in other industrialized countries. That’s why I am fighting to lower prescription drug prices.
I was a lead advocate for significant legislation signed into law in 2022 to lower drug prices and lift the 20-year ban that kept Medicare from being allowed to negotiate directly with drug companies to lower prices on behalf of 53 million seniors. These provisions—which empowered Medicare to start negotiating lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries—were based on a bill I long led, theEmpowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act.
Last year Medicare completed the first round of negotiations and announced lower prices for the first ten negotiated drugs. Seniors taking Eliquis, Xarelto, Jardiance, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, as well as any Fiasp and NovoLog insulin products will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2026. In January, Medicare announced the next 15 drugs selected for negotiation: Ozempic, Rybelsus, and WeGovy; Xtandi; Trelegy Ellipta; Pomalyst; Ibrance; Ofev; Linzess; Calquence; Austedo; Breo Ellipta; Tradjenta; Xifaxan; Vraylar; Janumet; and Otezla. These 15 additional drugs constitute 36 percent of all spending, or $41 billion dollars, in Medicare Part D. Negotiated lower prices for these 15 drugs will start in 2027. I will continue to push the Trump administration to fully implement this law so millions of Americans can benefit from these life-changing savings.
I am also fighting to pass my new bill, theStrengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act, to bring down negotiated drug prices even more and double the number of medications eligible for price negotiation each year.
Importantly, the 2022 lower health care costs law also prevents drug companies from raising prices faster than the rate of inflation. Additionally, the 2022 law caps the total amount seniors with Medicare Part D pay out-of-pocket for all their prescription drugs to no more than $2,000 a year—which benefits up to 235,000 Minnesotans per year. In addition, the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for Medicare patients living with diabetes is now capped at $35 per month, helping at least 27,000 Minnesotans. Finally, recommended vaccines—like those for shingles and pneumonia—are now available for free, with no out-of-pocket costs for Minnesotans enrolled in a MNsure plan, Medicare, MinnesotaCare, or Medical Assistance/Medicaid.
I will also keep fighting to expand Medicare coverage of hearing, vision, and dental care. Helping Minnesotans access preventive care is an important part of staying healthy and keeping costs down.
As Minnesota's U.S. senator, I will continue to focus on these health care priorities:
As Minnesota's U.S. senator, I am fighting for better, more affordable health care by: