On this week’s PPI Podcast, Arielle Kane, PPI’s Director of Health Care sits down with Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-7), a leader of the New Democrat Coalition. They discuss National Public Health Week, the critical funding within the American Rescue Plan Act, and the state of health care after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got to do a better job providing services and managing the health of those 20 percent [of Americans] with chronic conditions to both better manage their disease but also prevent some of those conditions. I think if we’re able to do some of that – and that’s something the New Democrat Coalition has worked on through various venues – we can start to bend the cost curve down,” said Rep. Ami Bera on the podcast.
Representative Bera also discussed the intersection of health care and infrastructure, and the work Congress and the Biden Administration is doing to improve access to care for all Americans:
“We’ve seen with the pandemic things like telehealth, telemedicine, have really been impactful in helping care for patients who may not have wanted to leave their home – and rightfully so – in the middle of a pandemic. That’s something that we should keep in place. But you can’t do telemedicine or telehealth if you don’t have broadband access – or it’s very hard to do. So let’s get that access out to those communities. That will help us solve some of the issues of lack of specialty care if you’re in a small rural community…” said Rep. Bera.
Listen here, and subscribe:
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.
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Media Contact: Aaron White – awhite@ppionline.org
