Health Care
“Rising health care costs are squeezing hard-working families in New Hampshire and across our country. I will keep fighting to lower prescription drug costs, hold big pharmaceutical companies accountable, and ensure that all Americans have access to the quality, affordable health insurance coverage that they need to lead healthy and productive lives.” – Senator Hassan
As a member of the Senate Health, Labor, Education, and Pension Committee and the Finance Committee, Senator Hassan is focused on expanding access to quality, affordable health care and lowering health care costs, particularly the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.
The cost of prescription drugs has forced far too many Granite Staters and Americans to make the impossible choice of whether to put food on the table or fill a potentially life-saving prescription. Senator Hassan has cosponsored comprehensive legislation to lower drug costs, including by permitting the safe importation of prescription drugs from places like Canada and allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.
Additionally, Senator Hassan has been a leader in the fight to end the outrageous practice of surprise medical billing. It is completely unacceptable that people in New Hampshire and across the country do everything they’re supposed to do to ensure that their care is in their insurance network and then still end up with large, unexpected bills from an out-of-network provider. To address this problem, Senator Hassan joined in introducing the bipartisan STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act to end the practice of surprise medical billing.
Senator Hassan is also working to improve and build on the Affordable Care Act – and she fought back against dangerous, partisan efforts that would significantly raise health care costs and strip health insurance away from millions of Americans. She is also standing up to protect the long-term viability of Medicare and will oppose any effort to privatize Medicare or turn it into a voucher system.
Additionally, the Senator opposes politically motivated efforts to undermine women’s access to quality health care, such as attempts to defund Planned Parenthood - and is fighting to protect a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own health care decisions.
Health care is not a privilege – it is a right, and Senator Hassan will continue fighting to ensure that all hard-working Granite Staters and Americans can get the affordable, quality health care that they need.
Related News
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February 14, 2020
Three Months From E-Cigarette Review Deadline, Shaheen & Hassan Urge FDA To Protect Kids, Hold Industry Accountable
( U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), along with 15 other bipartisan Senators, urged Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Stephen Hahn to comply with the agency’s requirements to reject e-cigarette applications that do not protect the public health, upon the FDA’s May 12 deadline for e-cigarette product review. The Senators, in a letter sent to Commissioner Hahn yesterday, highlighted concerns with FDA’s ongoing lax oversight of e-cigarettes and tobacco products, and pressed the agency for a science-based review that holds the industry accountable for products that are responsible for fueling the youth e-cigarette epidemic.
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February 14, 2020
Senator Hassan Denounces Cuts to Medicaid, Efforts to Overturn Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions
WASHINGTON - In case you missed it, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for answers at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on why the Administration proposed almost $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and why the Administration continues to push a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act, including its protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Senator Hassan also highlighted the impacts that these actions would have on Granite Staters, including Ashley Raymond of Enfield, NH, who accesses substance use disorder treatment through Medicaid.
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February 13, 2020
Shaheen Leads NH Delegation Call to ATSDR for Update on Merrimack-Area Health Consultations on PFAS Exposure
( Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led a letter with Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) requesting an update on health consultations, which have been underway in the Merrimack-area since August 2016 in response to the discovery of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in the region.
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February 13, 2020
Senator Hassan Presses HHS Secretary on Proposed Cuts to Medicaid, Efforts to Eliminate Pre-Existing Conditions Protections at Senate Finance Committee Hearing
WASHINGTON - At a Senate Finance Committee hearing today with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar about the Administration’s proposed budget, Senator Hassan pressed Secretary Azar on the impact that the Administration’s proposed cut of nearly $1 trillion to Medicaid would have on New Hampshire. The Senator also questioned Secretary Azar on the Administration’s efforts to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
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February 12, 2020
Senator Hassan Calls for Administration to Increase Funding and Improve Coordination Efforts to Contain Coronavirus Outbreak Following Additional Briefings from Current and Former Trump Administration Officials
WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today called on the Trump Administration to increase funding and improve its coordination efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak following briefings from current and former Administration officials on the government’s response to this public health emergency.
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February 10, 2020
Senator Hassan Statement on President Trump’s Proposed Budget Cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Health Priorities
WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan released the following statement about President Trump’s federal budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, among other damaging cuts. While the budget heeds calls from Senators Hassan, Shaheen and the entire New Hampshire Congressional Delegation to support continued funding for the State Opioid Response grant program, it cuts other health priorities that would harm the response to the opioid crisis.
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February 10, 2020
NH Delegation Applauds $51 million for Innovative Generic Drug Manufacturing Project in Manchester
( Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) issued the following statements after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) in Manchester will be awarded up to $51 million over 5 years to develop an innovative “Priority Medicines on Demand” project. The “Priority Medicines on Demand” project seeks to develop a portable technology that would chemically engineer and produce medications and vaccines to expand access to critical medical care in places where drugs are logistically and financially difficult to deliver. Such areas could potentially include natural disaster areas, locations abroad where service members are deployed and rural areas with limited pharmacy access.
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