Rep. Fred Upton on Budget, Healthcare, and Mood in Washington
“It’s important that people are not discriminated against if…they have one of those pre-existing illnesses.”
One of the big issues thus far the Trump Administration has been working to overhaul federal healthcare policy. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Saint Joseph), representing Michigan’s 6th congressional district, is someone who has been very involved in this process on the national stage.
Upton joins Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today to discuss the status of the healthcare bill and what is going on in Washington D.C.
Upton says that there are a lot problems with Obamacare that need to be addressed.
One of the most important aspects for Upton in the new healthcare bill is the covering of pre-existing illnesses. This is an issue he has focused on. He was instrumental in adding a provision to the legislation that attempts to compensate patients with pre-existing conditions if they cannot get coverage. Critics of the bill, however, say this doesn’t go far enough to protect those patients.
“I hope that at the end of the day (the Senate) will see what I did on pre-existing illnesses, and maybe make it stronger,” says Upton.
He also says party politics are making it harder to get things done in Washington. Upton says that when he first came to Congress, under the Reagan Administration, things got accomplished because he and others were willing to reach across the aisle.
“It’s really tragic,” he says. “You have to work across aisle to get things done”
Upton also discusses why he feels it would be a mistake for the U.S. to get out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
