Jim Inhofe: “I have long been dedicated to quality healthcare for my constituents in Oklahoma and across America. I supported the…”

“I have long been dedicated to quality healthcare for my constituents in Oklahoma and across America. I supported the Medicare bill of 2003 to give a voluntary prescription drug benefit to seniors. I have championed the rural health care providers, who received some of the greatest benefits of the Medicare bill. In 1997, I was one of few Republican to vote against the Balanced Budget Act because of its lack of support for rural hospitals. Back then, I made a commitment to not allow our rural hospitals to be closed, and I am pleased we finally addressed that important issue in the Medicare legislation. I also co-sponsored S. 816, the Health Care Access and Rural Equity Act, to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries to health care in rural regions. I am a strong advocate of medical liability reform and am an original cosponsor of S. 11, the Patients First Act, to protect patients' access to quality and affordable health care by reducing the effects of excessive liability costs. There are solutions to alleviate the burden placed on physicians and patients by excessive medical malpractice lawsuits, and I am committed to this vital reform. I have also worked with officials from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to expand access to life-saving Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators.”