U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., proposed a fix for the health care system in the wake of his “no” vote on the Breaking the Gridlock Act, or HR 1834.
During a visit to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Saturday, one of a few stops across the city, Westerman said in a one-on-one interview that the Fair Care Act (HR 10409), which he introduced in December 2024, is his solution. The bill has only been referred to multiple House committees, but it addresses the high costs of healthcare, prescription drugs and health insurance in the U.S.
“The problem is, you’ve got to get 60 votes in the Senate, and you’ve got to get things passed out of the House, but that’s our job to get those things done,” Westerman said. “When we talk about health care, it’s hard to pick which issues because there are so many of them.”
HR 1834, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., has advanced to the Senate after a 230-196 vote in the House on Thursday. It has widely been reported as a test of Republican loyalty. Seventeen Republicans broke from party lines to vote yes, and all 196 who voted no are Republicans.
Premium Tax Credits subsidize the cost of health insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Westerman said the credits, which expired in December, were only supposed to be a temporary measure during the covid-19 pandemic, adding the cost of health insurance has only risen.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Extending the credits was one of many points of contention that led to the government shutdown that lasted from last Oct. 1 to Nov. 12.
“These credits are essentially just going to insurance companies,” Westerman said. “They’re not going to people. They’re going to the insurance companies, with no reform on the health care system. Automatically renewing those Premium Tax Credits is not fixing anything. It’s just throwing more money into a broken system.”
Westerman expressed skepticism about the Senate’s chances of passing HR 1834, but he said similar policies are included in the Fair Care Act. A person age 64 or older is paying three times more than someone in their 20s, and Westerman contends that is making health care costs more expensive.
“We have to rethink we way we do health care in our country because it’s driving about 20% of the economy, and it’s the largest expense of the federal government,” Westerman said. “When people talk about the federal debt, we’re not going to be able to address the federal debt unless we get the cost of health care insurance down.”
As chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Westerman is also highly touting HR 4776, known as the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development, or SPEED, Act. He sponsors the nonpartisan bill with Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.
The SPEED Act would amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to address statutory flaws that Westerman’s committee says have resulted in lengthy timelines and increased “frivolous litigation.” The NEPA requires federal agencies to assess environmental effects of a proposed action such as decisions on permit applications, but Westerman believes the SPEED Act will allow the U.S. to reduce regulations while enhancing environmental stewardship.
“First off, we need to build more stuff in America, because when we build things, it means more economic growth,” Westerman said. “By producing more energy, we can lower the cost of energy, which goes into everything.”
Many of the policies in the NEPA have never been modified, Westerman said, meaning a project linked to the federal government has taken about five years to receive a permit.
“That’s caused us to fall behind in developing energy and energy infrastructure, you know, transmission and pipelines,” Westerman said. “It affects building public infrastructure like roads and bridges.”
The Trump administration finalized a plan to rescind regulations related to the NEPA on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
“It’s one of those out-of-sight, out-of-mind issues because you don’t see the direct impact of it,” Westerman said. “But you feel it when you go to the grocery store and you’re buying food. You feel it when you’re stuck in traffic because the project isn’t getting built more quickly and the cost of those projects are higher. You feel it at the gas pump. You feel it in the utility bill, but a lot of people don’t realize permitting delays are a big part of what causes price increases.”
A number of road projects, including Interstate 69 connecting Mexico to Canada and going through Southeast Arkansas, have been impacted by project permitting, Westerman said.
The potential for producing lithium in Arkansas was a topic during Westerman’s latest election campaign in 2024, but permits are needed to build processing plants for the metal commonly used in rechargeable batteries. Lithium is found in salty brine water below ground in four south Arkansas counties but none in the southeast corner of the state, according to a report from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Some lithium production facilities, however, may be established soon in southeast Arkansas, Westerman said, although he didn’t name any potential locations.