Congresswoman Escobar believes healthcare is a right every American should enjoy, yet El Paso County still has one of the highest uninsured rates in Texas. With out-of-pocket costs and premiums soaring, it is crucial for Congress to come up with solutions for everyday Americans.
In 2022, Congresswoman Escobar was a vocal advocate of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA); this historic legislation caps insulin at $35/month and out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 for seniors on Medicare, protecting thousands of El Pasoans. It also expands premium and co-pay assistance for low-income individuals and families, extends affordable health coverage to 13 million people, incentivizes lower drug prices, and provides free vaccines for Medicare seniors.
Together, the American Rescue Plan along with the IRA, bills championed by the Congresswoman, El Pasoans have saved an estimated $12.7 million and increased the average savings for beneficiaries to $734 a year.
Legislation Written by Congresswoman Escobar
Healthcare Providers Safety Act of 2025: This legislation, reintroduced on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, would amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program for healthcare providers to enhance the physical and cyber security of their facilities, personnel, and patients.
Health Care Providers Safety Act of 2025: This legislation would strengthen protections for health care providers by increasing criminal penalties for violence and harassment against medical professionals, mandating federal workplace safety standards in health care settings, and allocating resources for security training programs.
Legislation Supported by Congresswoman Escobar
Medicare for All Act: establishes a universal, government-run health insurance program covering all U.S. residents with automatic enrollment. It includes comprehensive care—such as hospital, mental health, dental, vision, reproductive, and gender-affirming services—without cost-sharing. Private insurance may only offer supplemental coverage. Health exchanges and certain federal programs end, excluding the VA and Indian Health Service. The program rolls out in phases, with full implementation two years after enactment.
Women's Health Protection Act of 2025: enshrines the protections of Roe into federal law by creating a federal right to access abortion carefree from medically unnecessary state-based restrictions. WHPA has already passed the House twice when Democrats held the majority and remains the most widely supported abortion rights bill in Congressional history.
Right to Contraception Act: This legislation would create a federal right for people to obtain contraceptives and establish a right for health care providers to provide contraceptives and information related to contraception. It would also allow the Department of Justice, as well as providers and individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception access made unlawful under the legislation, to go to court to enforce these rights. This bill would also protect access to a range of contraceptive methods, devices, and medications used to prevent pregnancy, including but not limited to oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, and intrauterine devices (IUDs).
Medicare Dental, Vision, and Hearing Benefit Act of 2025: This legislation would expand Medicare to cover dentures, comprehensive vision care including eye exams and prescription eyeglasses, comprehensive hearing care to all Medicare recipients with moderate or profound hearing loss, and dental care to all Medicare recipients to cover cleanings, x-rays, fillings, and other procedures.
340B PATIENTS Act: This legislation would protect and strengthen the 340B program by codifying 340B providers’ ability to use contract pharmacies to dispense 340B discounted drugs. This would ensure that 340B patients are able to pick up their prescriptions at any local pharmacy, and that safety-net providers are able to continue providing expanded medical and social services to their communities using their 340B discount savings.
Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act of 2025: This legislation would establish a budget point of order against considering budget reconciliation legislation in the House or the Senate that (1) reduces enrollment or benefits for individuals enrolled in the Medicaid program, or (2) reduces eligibility or benefits for households that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act: This legislation would eliminate waiting periods for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Medicare coverage for those with metastatic breast cancer. Specifically, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act would eliminate the five-month waiting period for SSDI benefits and the subsequent 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals with metastatic breast cancer.
Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act: Supports international family planning and reproductive health programs, ensuring access to comprehensive healthcare worldwide.
Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2025: This legislation would expand Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to include all services provided by chiropractors.
COVER Now Act: This legislation would establish a demonstration program to allow local governments to provide health benefits to the Medicaid expansion population in states that have no expanded Medicaid.
Access to Family Building Act: This legislation would codify the federal right to assisted reproduction technologies, including IVF, and ensure that no State law can infringe upon this right.
Children's Health Protection Act of 2025: This legislation would codify into law the only office within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dedicated to children's health, the Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP). This office would be responsible for rulemaking, policy, enforcement actions, research and applications of science that focuses on prenatal and childhood vulnerabilities, safe chemicals management; and coordination of community-based programs to eliminate threats to children’s health where they live, learn and play.
Abortion Care Awareness Act: This legislation would increase access to medically accurate information about abortion, including medication abortion. Additionally, this bill would ensure people have access to accurate information about where and how to obtain abortion services across the country, how to avoid anti-abortion centers intended to deceive patients, and how to identify misinformation about abortion care.
Menstrual Equity for All Act: This legislation would improve access to menstrual products.
Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act: This legislation would protect the constitutional right to travel between the states, including for the purpose of getting reproductive health care.
Health Equity and Access under Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families Act: This legislation would restore Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility to lawfully present immigrants and remove discriminatory Medicare restrictions based on length of U.S. residency for green card holders. It would also end the exclusion of undocumented immigrants from Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces and ensure access to public and affordable coverage for Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act: This legislation would guarantee abortion coverage—regardless of how a patient gets their health insurance.
Restoring Essential Healthcare Act: This legislation would strike Section 71113 of Republicans’ “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” which prohibits federal Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood clinics that offer reproductive health care alongside other health care. The provision has already put nearly 200 Planned Parenthood clinics at risk of closure, endangering access to healthcare for more than two million patients across the country.
Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2025: This legislation would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include a specific focus on reproductive rights in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices produced by the U.S. Department of State.
Funding
$5 Million for the TTUHCEP El Paso Border Health Center to target at-risk communities in the border region, leveraging community and clinical partners, to conduct early diagnosis and monitoring, as well as to provide telemedicine services and surveillance for obesity, diabetes, and cancer.
$925,000 to upgrade the technology at La Fe FQHC
$595,000 for the El Paso Children’s Hospital Pediatric Mobile Clinic
$1,383,069 to fund the replacement of the University Medical Center’s aging 2.5MW emergency generator and add solar capacity and power storage.
