ANN WAGNER’S VOTING RECORD ON
HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE
VOTED AGAINST
· Against government negotiation to lower drug prices
· Against protecting Americans with pre-existing medical conditions
· Against funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
· Against designating per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances
VOTED FOR
· For increasing harmful ground level ozone in our district
· For repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without any replacement health plan
· For making it more difficult for disabled people to live their lives
· For authorizing states to de-fund Planned Parenthood clinics
· For blocking Federal funding of Planned Parenthood clinics that provide family planning and medical services to the under served
Get the facts on Ann’s voting record on all the issues.
Source https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/136083/ann-wagner
FACTS AND IMPACTS
DRUG PRICES Price hikes on prescription drugs continue surging. In 2019 3,400 drugs boosted their prices, a 17% increase compared with the 2,900 drug price increases at the same time in 2018. A lack of competition means drug prices keep rising. People stop or skip medications resulting in worse health outcomes and higher health costs for all of us.
Yet Ann Wagner voted against the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 passed by House Demcratss to allow Health and Human Services to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare recipients and all Americans. This bill has been killed by Senate Republicans.
PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITIONS The Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the landscape of health insurance by creating broad protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. “Family friendly” Wagner voted to eliminate these protections and severely limit insurance options and healthcare access for millions of children with pre-existing conditions. An estimated 1 in 2 Americans, and 86 % of people ages 55 to 64, have a pre-existing condition.
Without protection many individuals face heavy cost burdens. Average out-of-pocket costs for those with cancer or diabetes would triple, while costs for arthritis, asthma, and hypertension care would rise by 27 percent to 39 percent.10 percent of diabetes patients could expect to incur over $9,200 annually in out-of-pocket costs.
CHIP Children’s Health Insurance Program provides low-cost health coverage to children in families earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance. Wagner voted for the Trump tax cuts – a major cause of the federal deficit that doubled between 2015 and 2019 to $984 billion. Yet Ann’s priorities are to cut vital health services for kids if CHIP might raise the deficit.
PFAS Per and polyfluorinated alkyl substances are a group of widely used, man-made chemicals that accumulate over time in people and environment. The extent of American communities’ confirmed contamination with the highly toxic fluorinated PFAS compounds keeps growing, with 1,398 contaminated locations in 49 states. PFASs are risky at lower levels than previously thought and the European Union, unlike the US, has responded to recognize the threat they pose. Her vote against PFAS as hazardous increases community exposure to these toxic chemicals.
OZONE HAZARD Ann voted to delay implementing the EPA 2015 ozone standard until 2026. Here The American Lung Association's 2019 annual report once again gave St. Louis an "F" grade for ozone pollution. Ozone, a main ingredient in smog, can cause respiratory problems, particularly in vulnerable populations of children and elderly. Children are at increased risk from exposure to ground-level ozone because their lungs are still developing Ozone can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma, leading to increased medical care and costs, and missed work days. The American Lung Association estimates the EPA 2015 national standard could prevent 660 premature deaths and 230,000 asthma attacks annually. With her vote to delay Ann showed she thought an F ozone rating was good enough for her constituents and their families.
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT Wagner voted repeatedly to repeal ACA meaning 21 million people would lose their health insurance; hundreds of thousands in our state. The state of Missouri and the Trump administration are attempting to have the law ruled unconstitutional.
40,000 more annual deaths would result if ACA is repealed (New England Journal of Medicine).
ACA has meant lower premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for the roughly 60 million senior citizens and disabled Americans enrolled in Medicare. And it helped close the gap in Medicare's drug coverage. Some 52 million non-elderly adults -- more than one in four - have a condition that could have rendered them uninsurable before ACA took effect
Eliminating ACA and its support for preventive care results in poorer health outcomes and larger medical costs.
DISABLED The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 outlawed discrimination in employment, housing, and other areas and required businesses and buildings to accommodate disabled people. The bill makes it more difficult for disabled Americans to challenge and remedy ADA violations.
FAMILY PLANNING Established in 1970, Title X provided affordable birth control and reproductive health care to people with low incomes, who couldn’t otherwise afford health care services on their own. More than four million people rely on federal Title X funding to access contraception and other essential health care. By voting to allow some states to deny funding to Planned Parenthood clinics, and voting to defund all Federal funding, Rep Wagner jeopardized the health of millions of women depending on PP clinics to provide a range of health and family planning services In 2019 Planned Parenthood withdrew from all Federal funding rather than submit to a Trump administration “gag order” that forces clinics receiving Title X funding to refer patients for abortions.