Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler spoke from her Washington D. C. office with constituents during a telephone town hall held June 27, mainly addressing questions regarding health care legislation.
Beutler began, however, by mentioning her work on a bipartisan bill that had passed the House and which is aimed at helping welfare recipients transition to work.
"Specifically, the bill facilitates helping local employers offer apprenticeships to recipients of welfare," Beutler said.
Beutler also mentioned her work on the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which has been signed into law. She said the Whistleblower Act will help the VA remove problem employees, protect whistleblowers, and contribute to a culture of accountability at the VA.
Beutler also touted her work on a VA funding bill that increases money to the department by $5.3 billion, with supports for female veterans in particular.
A bipartisan bill she's put together with Oregon Democratic Congressman Kurt Schrader would allow for a limited number of California sea lions to be removed from strategic points on the Columbia River in order to improve survival rates for salmon and steelhead, Beutler added.
On a proposal to privatize the Bonneville Power Administration, which she and other Northwest lawmakers have strongly opposed, Beutler said she's hopeful.
"I think they are going to hear us on this. I'm encouraged. I've had some positive feedback," she said, noting that she'd recently had a productive conversation on the matter with Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
Turning to health care, Beutler continued to voice support for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, saying she believes it can be improved upon. However, Beutler said she remains unconvinced the current bills being considered offer a better alternative.
"I thought that the bill that was passed didn't do enough to lower costs for people, and I felt like it left people vulnerable, people who were in the safety net, disabled folks or children," she said of legislation that passed in the House. "I'm still engaging with my counterparts in the Senate to try to get them to put together something that is both going to lower costs for people but also make sure we don't leave people behind."
Beutler said that she believes that both tort reform and the ability to purchase insurance across state lines are among the keys to cutting costs.
"Neither of those provisions were in this [House] bill and neither of them are part of the Senate bill, best I can tell," she explained.
In answer to a poll conducted during the town hall about what the highest priority for improving the country's health care should be, 48 percent of respondents said lower costs, 29 percent said lower drug prices, 17 percent said increasing the quality of care, and 6 percent answered that more doctors should be made available.
A caller commented that making sure everyone in the country has insurance should be the number one priority. Beutler answered that she agreed in principle but is against the way the number of persons covered has been expanded under the Affordable Care Act.
"In Washington State about 730,000 people joined Obama Care," Beutler stated. "What [many of them] weren't told is that they were being put on Medicaid. Medicaid is welfare. Medicaid is the safety net. It's for the most vulnerable. Folks who are able bodied, and maybe even have other options, got put onto Medicaid. They didn't get offered commercial plans in the private market that they could afford."
Beutler went on to state that this reliance on Medicaid has resulted in people having problems getting into primary care physicians in some instances.
Beutler described the Affordable Care Act as a "crumbling wall" but said the proposals to replace it have been put together too quickly and with too little outside input.
"Our process is broken. I have advocated that we do this through hearings and [by] inviting groups and having public input ... have the whole gamut come in and weigh in, so we can get a really good product, and that could take a year. That could take some time to do. I have not won that argument," she said.
Several callers agreed with Beutler's negative assessment of the Affordable Care Act. One man, who described himself as a small business owner, said he had lost his former doctor, his premiums had doubled, and that he and wife together pay $1,400 a month for a plan he described as "crumby."
Beutler said she agrees with the provision within the Affordable Care Act preventing discrimination for those with preexisting conditions but said that as the system exists now, people can avoid seeking coverage until after they become ill by paying a penalty, thus driving up costs. She said people should be required to maintain health coverage.
"One of the things this [latest House] bill did do that I like is that it closes those loopholes.... You can't wait until you get in a car accident to purchase car insurance. You can't wait until someone dies to purchase life insurance. Simply by requiring people to get and maintain coverage if they want to be covered is going to bring some stability and decrease costs for everybody," Beutler said.
Turning away from health care, Beutler said she has co-sponsored legislation that would create broad concealed carry reciprocity between states, saying she believes strongly in the matter.
On Syria, Beutler said she supported President Trump's missile strike response to the apparent use of chemical weapons by the Assad government, but that she believes any substantial deployment of troops should be approved by Congress with a clear objective in mind and a plan to achieve it.
A caller who described himself as a 100 percent disabled veteran told Beutler the VA was forcing him to wait six weeks for a medical appointment. Beutler called that unacceptable and said she'd look into resolving the matter.