Share Your Thoughts on Health Reform

Like President Obama, I believe it is time for us to reform our health care system.  Congress is working with the President to develop a plan that will expand coverage, stabilize and reduce the cost of care, and protect you and your family’s right to get the coverage and treatment you need in consultation with your doctor, instead of insurance companies or government bureaucrats. 

Reforming our health care system is first and foremost about giving American families peace of mind.   We all want to ensure our loved ones, particularly our children and grandchildren, are provided with certain basic essentials, and access to affordable, high-quality health care is one of them.  As your representative in Congress, I am committed to making sure health care is not a luxury for some, but a guaranteed benefit for all.

There is more to health care reform, however.  It is also about containing costs and keeping our nation economically competitive.  The United States currently spends twice as much per capita on health care as almost any other industrialized nation.  Despite our increased spending, we have higher numbers of uninsured people and an unhealthier population.  That is because we are not investing our health care dollars wisely. 

The time has come to redirect the money we are spending on health care.  We need to invest in preventive medicine – like mammograms and physicals – so we avoid having to spend money on more expensive and invasive treatments down the road.  We can catch diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma early, and sometimes prevent their onset altogether, but this will only happen if Americans have access to full health coverage, not just emergency rooms. 

Right now, we are on track to double how much we spend on health care in America over the next three decades.  This is putting U.S. businesses, large and small, at a disadvantage with their foreign competitors, and it is causing them to reduce benefits and make layoffs.  The path we are on is unsustainable, but I know that enacting the reforms you and your family need and deserve is not an easy task.  That is why I have established this website.  I want you to know about the steps Congress and the President are taking, but more importantly, I want to hear your thoughts, ideas and concerns.  So, please take a minute to review the information below, fill out the survey, and send your stories and experiences to me. 

Health Care Survey

Your opinion counts!  Please take a minute to answer a quick online poll so I know where you stand on some of the issues being debated in Congress on how to reform our health care system.

Share Your Story

It is critically important that any reforms made to our health care system expand coverage and reduce costs for families and businesses. As Congress works to tackle this issue, I want to hear from you. Is your family having trouble getting the care they need under the current system? Is the rising cost of health care hurting your small business? Please take a minute to share your personal story with me by sending me an email to CrowleyHealthCare@mail.house.gov.

Joe's Goals for Health Care Reform

Health care reform must expand coverage, reduce costs for hard-working families, and protect your right to choose what works best for you and your family. Click on the link below to learn more about the principles guiding my work to reform our health care system.

Crowley's Guiding Principles for Health Care Reform

What's in the Health Care Reform bill for New York Families Living in the 7th Congressional District?

What Health Care Reform Means for the People of Queens & the Bronx

Joe's Tele-Town Hall on Health Care Reform

On November 7, 2009, during the health care reform debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, I hosted a telephone town hall with over 4,000 participants from Queens and the Bronx to discuss the Affordable Health Care for America Act and how it will affect you.

Click the link below to hear audio from the tele-town hall:

Crowley Health Care Town Hall 11-7-09.mp3

Listen to my previous tele-town hall from July 20, 2009 on health care reform:

Crowley Health Care Town Hall 7-20-09.mp3

Want to participate in my next tele-town hall? Sign up to receive my e-newsletters.  That way, I can keep you posted on my work in Congress and let you know when I will be hosting upcoming events in your neighborhood.

Learn How the Affordable Health Care for America Act will affect you

Click the image below to walk through an interactive guide to learn how H.R.3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, will affect you.

More Information on the Health Care Reform bill

Click on the links below for additional information on the health care reform bill.

Paying For Health Care Reform
Making Health Coverage Affordable
Public Health Insurance Option
Read the Summary of the Bill
Read a Section-By-Section Analysis of the Bill
Read the Full Bill Text
Proposed Revisions to the Bill