Press Releases
Webster Votes to Protect Patients from Health Care Discrimination
February 7, 2024
Washington, D.C. — Florida Congressman Daniel Webster, R-Clermont, today voted to pass H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023, which bans Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) to prevent discrimination of Americans with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
“Life is our most precious gift,” said Rep. Webster. “Bureaucrats in Washington should not be picking and choosing if someone’s life is worth providing healthcare. This bill protects patients and sanctity of life by ensuring that veterans and other Americans in federal healthcare programs are not denied care because of their disability or illness.”
QALYs are a metric used by federal health programs, such as Medicaid or the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, to place a dollar value on the life of a patient to determine whether certain treatments are cost-effective, which can lead to discounting a person’s worth to receive potentially lifesaving healthcare due to their disability or chronic illness. H.R. 485 extends Medicare's ban on QALYs to all federal health care programs, ensuring fair and unbiased decision-making in health care coverage and reimbursements.
“Life is our most precious gift,” said Rep. Webster. “Bureaucrats in Washington should not be picking and choosing if someone’s life is worth providing healthcare. This bill protects patients and sanctity of life by ensuring that veterans and other Americans in federal healthcare programs are not denied care because of their disability or illness.”
QALYs are a metric used by federal health programs, such as Medicaid or the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, to place a dollar value on the life of a patient to determine whether certain treatments are cost-effective, which can lead to discounting a person’s worth to receive potentially lifesaving healthcare due to their disability or chronic illness. H.R. 485 extends Medicare's ban on QALYs to all federal health care programs, ensuring fair and unbiased decision-making in health care coverage and reimbursements.