Healthcare

U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) and U.S. Congressman Joe Kennedy III (MA-04) today applauded the bipartisan passage of their Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Under the legislation, the Department of Labor will be required to conduct random audits, and if they find that insurance plans are not abiding by existing parity laws, they will e... Read more »

Dear Friend, Mental health care is health care. Period. Undiagnosed or untreated mental illness can cause physical ailments, and result in lost work and overall poor health. Right now, we are not doing enough to address the rising rates of mental illnesses among children and adults, a problem the coronavirus pandemic has made even more urgent. I want to stress that if you’re feeling overwhelmed, w... Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) has introduced legislation with Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), and Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) to protect patients from reductions in coverage during public health emergencies. Porter’s Patients Before Profits Act would bar insurers from renegotiating contracts or decreasing reimbursement rates for doctors and other healthcare w... Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) led an effort with Reps. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Lauren Underwood (IL-14) to ensure cost is not a barrier for people getting tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Congresswomen raised concerns to the Trump Administration that COVID-19 diagnostic testing and services aren’t affordable and accessible for patients, which will dissuade people from bein... Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) today called out Trump Administration officials for a proposal that would enable debt collection practices that place patients’ private information at risk. The Administration’s new policy, which allows debt collectors to use unsecured means of communication, is particularly concerning for Americans with medical debt, as the lack of data security could... Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) today announced that she will bring Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s (CHOC) Chief Psychologist Dr. Heather Huszti to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 4. “We have a pediatric mental health crisis in our country—15 million children are struggling with a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, and appropriate services are scarc... Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) today requested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide Congress with critical information about the agency’s efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus and treat those infected. “This public health emergency demands a swift response to stop the spread of the virus,” Congresswoman Porter said. “During the recent district work p... Read more »

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives today passed a provision championed by Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) to lower families’ medical expenses and save them money. The Porter provision does this by lowering the threshold at which families can deduct medical expenses from federal taxes from 10% to 7.5%. Porter previously led a bipartisan effort with 23 colleagues to call on House leaders fro... Read more »

WASHINGTON—A bill by Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) to prevent drug manufacturers from profiting off unreasonable price hikes passed the House of Representatives today as part of broader legislation to lower prescription drug costs. The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which passed with Porter’s support, would allow federal officials to negotiate fair drug prices and included Porte... Read more »

Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) led her California congressional colleagues in demanding that the American Kidney Fund (AKF) reconsider its decision to abandon patients it supports in the state. Rep. Porter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Kamala Harris, and 12 additional Representatives for California, requested that AKF provide a pathway forward for the patients they are leaving behind and asked ... Read more »