Health Care
As an Emergency Room doctor, I know how important it is for people in the 36th district to have access to quality, affordable health care. Some improvements have been made to our healthcare system, such as allowing parents to insure their children until the age of 26, making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors, and ensuring that people with preexisting conditions cannot be denied insurance coverage. However, our system remains imperfect and expensive, wasting billions every year and we must continue working to improve it.
We must address the waste, fraud and abuse in our health care system. In my position on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I have focused on improving the health care system for our nation’s veterans and developing bipartisan solutions to end the Veterans Affairs backlog of disability claims. There are real opportunities to save the American public billions of dollars, like using electronic medical records to coordinate care and make our healthcare system more efficient. Also, allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices on behalf of beneficiaries would save over a billion dollars and make prescriptions more affordable for our seniors.
I am first and foremost a physician, and the health of our community is my chief concern. I will continue to fight to protect the Medicare and Social Security benefits that seniors have worked hard to earn and find bipartisan solutions that will improve our nation’s healthcare system. Good ideas don’t belong to a single party, and I will continue to reach across the aisle to improve healthcare for the residents of California’s 36th Congressional district.
More on Health Care
Washington, DC – This week, the House of Representatives passed two important bills that contain provisions written by Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. that will strengthen the federal, state, and local partnership to mitigate the impending public health crisis at the Salton Sea.
Washington, DC – Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) is putting pressure on companies to ensure vulnerable populations and frontline workers have access to COVID-19 vaccines. During a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, Dr. Ruiz questioned executives on their vaccine distribution plans to address health disparities.
“I am going to raise hell if that’s the scenario,” says Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-36), he’s not mincing words when it comes to equity in the future of the coronavirus vaccine distribution.
He says he will not accept the vaccine going to the highest bidder and met with pharma make this clear he met with pharmaceutical companies to make this clear, “I told them that we need a public health approach to the distribution of vaccines that’s fair, that’s effective and that prioritizes the people that needs them the most.”
Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed four of Dr. Ruiz’s bills as amendments to address the military’s use of toxic burn pits. The four pieces of legislation, which passed as part of H.R. 6395, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, would expand the Burn Pits Registry, enhance medical training on the health effects of burn pits, increase reporting of burn pit exposure, and require a status update from the Department of Defense on all burn pits research.
Executives from four companies in the race to produce a coronavirus vaccine — AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna Therapeutics and Pfizer — told lawmakers on Tuesday that they are optimistic their products could be ready by the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. All four companies are testing vaccines in human clinical trials.
Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D., CA-36, who has consistently fought for legislation on behalf of servicemembers exposed to burn pits. this week introduced five new pieces of legislation to address the military’s use of toxic burn pits.
Washington DC – This week, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) introduced five new pieces of legislation to address the military’s use of toxic burn pits. Dr. Ruiz has consistently fought for legislation on behalf of servicemembers exposed to burn pits. This bill package follows Dr.
Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) advocated for his bill that would improve seniors’ access to Medicare coverage by expanding beneficiary outreach and education to help clarify when and how to sign up for Medicare Part B and reducing gaps in coverage. Speaking during a full Energy and Commerce Committee Markup Wednesday, Dr.
A House committee unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would make changes for the first time in 50 years to the complex rules for enrolling in Medicare's Part B, which covers doctor visits and other outpatient care.
Currently, seniors who don't get Part B when they first become eligible for Medicare pay permanent, recurring late enrollment penalties and can only sign up during the first 3 months of the year for coverage that begins July 1, unless they qualify for an exception. To make matters worse, they cannot buy other health insurance during their months-long wait.
Palm Desert, CA – Representatives Ruiz (CA-36), Barragán (CA-44), Correa (CA-46), Lieu (CA-33), and Porter (CA-45) held a call with regional reporters today calling on the Senate to take up the Heroes Act, which the House passed in May. The Heroes Act would protect the paychecks of frontline workers, provide direct payments of up to $6,000 for families who are struggling, extend expanded unemployment benefits that will expire at the end of the month if the Senate fails to act, support small businesses, and invest in the testing needed to reopen our economy safely.