Health Care

For a comprehensive set of documents explaining the highlights of the new health care reform law, click here.

As an elected official, Rep. Grijalva feels it is his duty and obligation to make sure every person in the United States has the means to live a healthy life. Since his first term in Congress, he has supported many initiatives to ensure that every American has adequate access to health care coverage. While he continue to feel that a single-payer system is the best way to address the need for health care and to control soaring medical costs in our country, he is pleased that Congress has enacted necessary health care reform to begin to focus our country on preventive care instead of the more costly surgical and curative care needed after an individual’s health has already deteriorated.

He is dedicated to providing affordable, accessible, high-quality health care to every American. He believes that health care is not a privilege. It is a right and a necessity. A healthy population is the backbone of a successful economy and society – adults cannot work if they are not healthy, and children cannot acquire necessary education if they are not healthy enough to be in the classroom. Healthy individuals and preventive services save money and relieve stress on our broken health care system. For more information on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which he voted to pass, click here.

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane" – Martin Luther King Jr.

Children

It is absolutely essential that all children in the United States are covered by our health care system. This includes poorer, minority and immigrant children that often receive disproportionately little care and attention. We must provide incentives to the vital primary care and pediatric workforce by offering loan repayments, scholarships and grant programs for health professionals that work in underserved areas and for medical schools that encourage students to go into primary care practice settings. Keeping our children healthy involves a multi-faceted approach including preventive services, mental health services, maternity care, well baby and well child care, and vision and hearing services. 

Arizona has fallen behind on taking care of its children and has been rated as one of the worst state in children’s health care. This is widely attributed to a lack of health insurance coverage. Rep. Grijalva supports restoring our state children’s health insurance program (KidsCare) because a child should never have to be on a waiting list or be refused basic health services they need to keep them healthy. He believes we must not neglect the health of future generations.

Seniors

We must ensure that we are meeting the needs of our senior citizens. After working hard and contributing to society, they deserve the assurance that they will be cared for. Forcing senior citizens to ration needed medication must end, and Rep. Grijalva has worked hard in Congress to protect and strengthen Medicare. He believes it's time we stopped giving tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations when America’s seniors are struggling to make ends meet. He opposes benefit cuts and worked to close the Part D donut hole to provide seniors with the full drug coverage they require.

At the same time, he believes we must prevent the insurance industry practice of “age-rating,” which forces older people to pay much more to receive the same coverage as younger people. He has worked to promote primary care, care coordination, and payment reforms to improve the doctor-patient relationship. He firmly believes that all costs for preventive care service should be eliminated so that Americans in need of care are not deterred from seeing their doctors.

Health Disparities

Racial and ethnic minorities, low-income Americans, people with disabilities and other underserved populations are less likely to get the preventive care they need to stay healthy.  Because of reduced access to health care, they are generally in poorer health and are more likely to suffer from serious illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

The Affordable Care Act is a historical achievement that is already reducing health disparities and improving the health of the underserved. The law provides uninsured Americans with access to affordable private insurance and, if eligible, to Medicaid services that were previously just out of reach. Americans should no longer have to choose between buying groceries and receiving needed medical care. Rep. Grijalva supports the improvements being made in healthcare workforce programs to ensure a diverse, culturally competent workforce, especially through increased training of community health workers.

Border Region

As the Representative of Arizona’s 7th District, Rep. Grijalva recognizes and respects the unique population he is fortunate to represent. Congressional District 7 includes more than 300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Twenty-three percent of border residents lack health insurance coverage, compared to 14.7 percent nationally. Poverty is nearly twice as high in border regions. One of his top priorities is to expand coverage to these underserved populations. He supports partnerships such as the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission that are working to meet these specific health care needs.

Efforts should include working with states, universities, health centers, and others to address numerous public health issues, such as infectious diseases, obesity, diabetes and workforce training along the border. He believes we also need an Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance program to bolster preparedness for bioterrorism and infectious diseases along each of our borders.

Native Americans

Despite their legal right to health care – guaranteed in treaties signed decades ago – American Indians and Alaska Natives face dire health conditions. Nearly 30 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives are without health coverage. Indian populations, including in my home state of Arizona, suffer from a higher mortality rate and greater incidence of illness than the overall population. As Dr. Donald Warne wrote for The Progressive magazine: “In Arizona, where I live, the average age at death is 72.2 years for the general population and 54.7 years for American Indians. Even people in Bangladesh and Ghana live longer.”

It is critical to improve federal health programs for Native Americans. As vice chair of the Native American Caucus, Rep. Grijalva is sincerely committed to improving tribal access to high-quality care. He strongly believes in protecting the sovereignty of the tribes in his district while ensuring that the federal government follows through on its agreements to protect their health and safety. It is time to expand public health initiatives and modernize the Indian health care delivery system. Construction of Indian clinics and sanitation facilities must increase, and repairs must be made to existing structures. The unique needs of Native American populations must not be ignored. There should be no barriers to accessing whatever behavioral health or substance abuse treatment programs tribal members may require to improve their lives. The passage of the Affordable Care Act gives Indian Country the opportunity to get healthier.