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Democratic

John Sarbanes

Congressman John Sarbanes has represented Maryland’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. Congress since 2007.

He currently serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change. He serves as Vice Chair of the House Subcommittee on Health. Congressman Sarbanes also serves on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and its Subcommittee on Government Operations. He chairs the Democracy Reform Task Force, which has assembled HR1, the For The People Act, to reform and strengthen our democracy.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Congressman Sarbanes has experience working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. He and his family live in Towson, giving him the opportunity to drive home every night and hear from the people he serves in Congress. Listening to their concerns allows him to better represent Maryland and has shaped his work in the House of Representatives.

HEALTH CARE

As the Vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Congressman Sarbanes is a strong advocate for reforming our nation’s health care system to ensure all individuals can access high-quality, comprehensive and affordable health care services. He is also committed to strengthening our public health infrastructure, supporting the health care workforce and investing in lifesaving biomedical research.

Expanding Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care

  • Making Insurance More Affordable: Congressman Sarbanes has been an outspoken champion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has reduced health care costs for families and helped millions gain coverage. He believes it is critical to strengthen the ACA and its implementation while also advancing other proposals to further expand coverage and lower costs for Americans with private insurance – like the Medicare for All Act.

 

  • Strengthening Medicare & Medicaid: The Medicare and Medicaid programs provide quality coverage for millions of seniors, individuals with disabilities and low-income individuals. Congressman Sarbanes supports strengthening the range of services provided by these federal health programs – including home- and community-based services – and curbing seniors’ premiums in the Medicare Part B program.

 

  • Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs: Congressman Sarbanes has routinely fought to lower prescription drug costs for Americans and hold big pharmaceutical companies accountable for their price increases. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed with Congressman Sarbanes’ support, finally allows Medicare to directly negotiate lower drug prices, restricts how much pharmaceutical companies can raise prices on their drugs and caps out-of-pocket spending for seniors.

 

  • Investing in Public Health & Biomedical Research: He is a strong supporter of rebuilding our public health infrastructure to ensure its readiness for future crises, improving its ability to use data-driven solutions to promote health equity and increasing investments in biomedical research, including at the National Institutes of Health.

 

  • Combating the Opioid Epidemic & Bolstering Mental and Behavioral Health Programs: Congressman Sarbanes has supported legislation to increase the availability of mental health services and has also voted to enhance opioid treatment and prevention resources. He authored legislation – which became law in 2016 – to allow the co-prescribing of lifesaving naloxone to individuals at elevated risk of overdoses. Congressman Sarbanes has also sponsored legislation to strengthen critical mental and behavioral health programs for children and has secured robust funding for school-based health centers, which he has long championed as a way to improve students’ health and academic outcomes.

 

  • Protecting Reproductive Rights: Congressman Sarbanes strongly believes that every individual – regardless of where they live – should have the ability to exercise their reproductive freedom and control their own health, life and future. He supports legislation to codify the right to access abortion services and remove barriers that prevent individuals from accessing contraception.

Strengthening America’s Health Care Workforce

One of Congressman Sarbanes’ top priorities in Congress is building and strengthening our health care workforce to meet the needs of delivering quality care today and preparing for the public health challenges of tomorrow.

He has worked to secure several provisions to create additional scholarship and loan repayment programs for primary care providers in shortage areas, increase the number of substance use disorder professionals, improve grant programs for primary care training and help align our health care workforce with the needs of the population – now and in the future.

Congressman Sarbanes has also sponsored legislation to help combat America’s shortage of primary care physicians by providing training and financial assistance to encourage mid-career and retired or retiring physicians to return to practice and serve at community health centers, Veterans Administration medical centers or school-based health centers.