Rep. Sharice Davids Votes to Protect People with Pre-existing Conditions, Lower Prescription Drug Prices 

Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.)

Published May 10, 2019

WASHINGTON — Rep. Sharice Davids voted this week to pass legislation that would protect people with pre-existing conditions and move further to lower health costs and prescription drug prices for all Americans.  

“Affordable health care that protects people with pre-existing conditions is a priority for Kansans, and it’s been one of my top priorities since taking office. These pieces of legislation will help to bring down the rising costs of health care and prescription drugs for Kansas families, while also ensuring we keep life-saving protections for those with pre-existing conditions in place,” said Davids. 

This comes on the heels of the Trump Administrations’ continued attacks on health care by asking a federal appeals court to not only strike down protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but to eliminate every protection and benefit provided by the Affordable Care Act.  

“Over 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions – common things like asthma, cancer or diabetes – are protected under the ACA. This Administration’s attempts to take away those vital protections will take us back to a time when people can be denied coverage, or priced out of their coverage, just because they have a pre-existing condition. We can’t go back,” said Davids.   

Today the House passed H.R. 986, the Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act, which Davids co-sponsored. The legislation aims to reverse the Administration’s efforts to eliminate life-saving protections for people with pre-existing conditions and push Americans into junk insurance plans that discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions and do not cover essential benefits. 

The House also passed two bipartisan bills yesterday, H.R. 1503 and H.R. 1520, to lower the price of prescription drugs by removing some of the barriers to generics coming to market.   

Davids has been a vocal advocate of lowering prescription drug prices and protecting people with pre-existing conditions, addressing these issues during her public roundtable and town hall conversations in the Third District.