“For me, the debate about health insurance reform always has been about the families who struggle to secure the coverage they need. It’s about the small business owners who face rising premiums. It’s about the seniors who can’t pay for their prescription drugs. In supporting reform of our broken health insurance system, I stand with the families, seniors, and small businesses who I represent and who will soon have greater control over their health care” – Rush Holt.

On March 21, Rep. Holt supported the health insurance reform package that is now law. As a result of reform, families with health insurance through their employers will benefit from caps on yearly out-of-pocket costs. Seniors will find that Medicare not only remains intact, but is improved – recipients will receive free preventive care and better primary care. Small businesses will have more health insurance options and additional support for their health insurance expenses. Patients with diseases such as diabetes or cancer will be able to obtain insurance without being turned away because of their preexisting condition.

Last year, Rep. Holt helped pass the Credit CARD Act, legislation to end unfair practices of the credit card industry and provide protections for consumers facing excessive credit card fees, high interest rates, and incomprehensible agreements that companies can revise at will. In supporting the bill Holt said, “I have been inundated with calls and letters from constituents who rightly are outraged by sudden and arbitrary increases in their credit card interest rates. Their hard-earned taxpayer dollars were used to shore up financial institutions to prevent an economic collapse, and in return, some of the very same financial institutions turned right around and doubled the interest rate they charged their customers.”  On February 22, much of the law went into effect. Click here to read a summary of the law’s provisions, by enactment date.