COLUMN — Fair Care Act would protect those with preexisting conditions

Published 1:56 pm Friday, October 16, 2020

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Recently, I co-sponsored I cosponsored H.R. 8527, the Fair Care Act of 2020, which will lower the cost of health care while increasing consumer choice and protecting coverage for preexisting conditions.

This bill includes more than 70 provisions to improve health care for all Americans. One of the provisions is taken directly from my previously introduced legislation: H.R. 4159, the Maintaining Protections for Patients with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019. This bill would codify preexisting conditions that are currently covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in HIPAA. This means that under the Fair Care Act of 2020, preexisting conditions would always be protected, even if the ACA is struck down.

Friday, Oct. 9, I co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to address the threat of third-party ballot collection, sometimes known as “ballot harvesting.” H.R. 8285, the Election Fraud Prevention Act, would improve the security of the 2020 election by amending the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prevent payments to states which allow ballot harvesting. I am committed to making sure that every registered voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot safely. We cannot allow third-party actors to jeopardize our right to vote.

Last week I was honored with the “Friend of Farm Bureau” award from the American Farm Bureau Federation for my work to support the farmers and ranchers of the 5th District during my time in Congress. I am proud of the work we have done so far, including introducing the Hemp Opportunity Zone Act to provide tax incentives to hemp producers in low income areas, adding Virginia to the hemp crop insurance pilot program, and implementing the USMCA to broaden the international markets for local farmers. I appreciate this distinction, and I will always fight for economic opportunity for all of our agricultural producers in the 5th District.

Denver Riggleman represents Lunenburg in the U.S. House of Representatives. He can be reached by visiting https://riggleman.house.gov/ or by phone at (434) 973-9631.