This follows the week the Senate voted down bills to repeal & replace the Affordable Care Act.
Frederick, Md (KM). Frederick played host to Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md) on Monday. He says he took part in a discussion on the latest developments in Washington regarding health care policy “We had a very contentious week. So I want to at least inform the people of Frederick what’s happening in the health care debate to get their views,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity really to listen and try to see whether we can make some sense of this debate taking place in Washington.”
Last week, the Senate vote down legislation introduced by the Republican leadership to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. After failing to do away with the law as they promised over the past seven years, the GOP says it’s giving up on it, at least for now.
Senator Cardin, a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, says the law does need some improvements. “We’ve got to deal with the affordability, particularly those who do not have insurance provided by their employer where they’re on their own and paying for their health care,” he said. “They need more help on the affordability issue, and the co-pays and deductibles.”
He says Congress must also deal with the high cost of health care. “Overall, the cost of health care is just too great. How can we make it more efficient? How we can provide incentives where the health care system rewards good health, and takes care of the patient rather than the individual disease,” Cardin says.
The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. It has made health care more available to those who didn’t have it, but it has not been able to control the costs.
Republican lawmakers, who had promised for years to repeal the law, ran into some opposition during town hall meetings recently from citizens who wanted to keep the Affordable Care Act in place.
Senator Cardin says it’s time for Democratic and GOP legislators to work together to make improvements to the Affordable Care Act. :”You’re going to get a better result. You’ll get a more predictable policy to survive in the future. It’s what we need to do,” he says.
The second part of Senator Cardin’s visit to Frederick on Monday included a roundtable discussion with small business owners, and a listening session with the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce.
By Kevin McManus