lamalfa's voting record: healthcare

H.R. 3 — Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (116th Congress, 2019)

How he voted: Nay

Bill Summary: This bill aimed to lower prescription drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors.

Impact: By voting against this measure, LaMalfa opposed efforts to reduce prescription drug costs, which could have alleviated financial burdens for seniors in his district. High drug prices remain a significant issue, especially for rural communities with limited access to healthcare providers. Nationally, Americans continue facing one of the highest drug prices in the developed world.

H.R. 1425 — Affordable Insulin Now Act (117th Congress, 2021)

How he voted: Nay

Bill Summary: Proposed capping insulin copays for Americans at $35 per month.

Impact: LaMalfa's opposition to this bill meant that individuals with diabetes in his district continued to face high out-of-pocket costs for insulin, potentially leading to health complications due to unaffordability.

H.R. 3 — Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions (Multiple sessions, ACA-related repeal vot

How he voted: Yea (on Affordable Care Act repeal efforts)

Bill Summary: Supported efforts to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, which expanded coverage for people with preexisting conditions.

Impact: A repeal would risk millions of people losing healthcare coverage, including rural residents with limited access to healthcare in Northern California. Nationally, this could lead to increased uninsured rates and exacerbate health disparities.

H.R. 4974 — Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (2023)

How he voted: Nay

Bill Summary: Would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices on high-cost drugs.

Impact: LaMalfa’s opposition to drug price reform kept prices high, particularly affecting older adults and patients with chronic conditions in his district, while also contributing to higher federal healthcare spending nationwide.

H.R. 4977 — Lower Health Care Costs Act (2023)

How he voted: Nay

Bill Summary: Sought to lower healthcare premiums and out-of-pocket costs for individuals and families.

Impact: LaMalfa's vote against this legislation meant that families in his district continued to face high healthcare costs, potentially leading to reduced access to necessary medical services.

H.R. 3762 — Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (2016)

How he voted: Yea

Bill Summary: Sought to roll back/dissolve "Obamacare" (the Affordable Care Act) and defund Planned Parenthood.

Impact: LaMalfa's vote in favor of this legislation, which, at the time, sought to defund Planned Parenthood, reducing access to preventive care like cancer screenings, STD testing, contraception, and other essential services for many women in small or remote communities. It also threatened the health coverage of millions of Americans and removed access to primary and preventative care, making preventive care more difficult to access or more expensive.

H.R. 7 — No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (2017)

How he voted: Yea

Bill Summary: Sought to make permanent the ban on federal funding for abortions, including under the Hyde Amendment.

Impact: LaMalfa's vote in favor of this legislation limited access to abortion for low-income women who rely on publicly funded health programs. For women in his district, in rural Northern California, where clinics may be far and access costly, it means fewer options and more travel burdens.

H.R. 1 — One Big Beautiful Bill Act (119th Congress, 2025)

How he voted: Yea

Bill Summary: This comprehensive bill included provisions that could potentially reduce Medicaid funding and impose stricter eligibility requirements.

Impact: By supporting this bill, LaMalfa voted for measures that could reduce healthcare access for low-income individuals and families in his district, particularly affecting those who rely on Medicaid for essential services.

Doug LaMalfa’s Health-Care Voting Pattern: Cut first, ask his constituents to cope later.

Doug LaMalfa has a habit: if a bill lowers costs or expands coverage, he’s against it; if it shrinks coverage or weakens patient protections, he’s all in. That pattern isn’t abstract ideology—it ricochets through California’s 1st District, where rural hospitals and clinics already run on fumes and a significant share of residents rely on Medi-Cal.

Start with the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the 2017 repeal bill that the Congressional Budget Office projected would leave 23–24 million more people uninsured within a decade, largely by slashing Medicaid and weakening market protections (Congressional Budget Office [CBO], 2017). LaMalfa voted yes and cheered the House passage (LaMalfa, 2017; see also CBO, 2017). Fast-forward to 2022, when Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act to negotiate Medicare drug prices and cap seniors’ out-of-pocket costs: the House vote was 220–207, with every “no” from the GOP—including LaMalfa (Office of the Clerk, 2022a; LaMalfa, 2022). When the House considered the Affordable Insulin Now Act to cap many patients’ insulin copays at $35, LaMalfa voted no again; the measure still passed 232–193 (Office of the Clerk, 2022b). That’s the pattern in three snapshots: oppose coverage, oppose cost controls, oppose a lifeline for people who need insulin.

The results land hard at home. CA-01 is rural and medically under-resourced: HRSA designates broad swaths of Northern California as Health Professional Shortage Areas, indicating a shortage of primary care and mental health providers (Health Resources & Services Administration [HRSA], 2025a, 2025b). Shasta County’s own needs assessment and county survey flag severe provider shortages felt by residents—96% of local respondents said there’s a doctor shortage, and more than half believe they’ve been misdiagnosed or undiagnosed due to lack of access (Dignity Health, 2025; Shasta County Health & Human Services Agency, 2025). In this environment, LaMalfa’s votes to reduce coverage or block affordability measures aren’t neutral—they strip capacity from systems already stretched thin.

Coverage dependence is not theoretical here. As of mid-2024, nearly 15 million Californians—about 38% of the state—were enrolled in Medi-Cal; interactive district-level estimates show large Medi-Cal enrollment and spending in rural Northern California districts, underscoring how federal Medicaid decisions echo in CA-01’s clinics and hospitals (UC Berkeley Labor Center, 2025). Independent analyses warn that federal Medicaid cuts or new barriers (like work-requirement schemes) would hit rural Northern California’s fragile network of safety-net providers first, forcing service reductions or closures (California Health Care Foundation [CHCF], 2025a, 2025b).

Put bluntly: when LaMalfa votes to unwind the ACA, block drug-price negotiation, or spike an insulin cap, he’s voting to keep prices high and care further out of reach for constituents who already drive hours for specialists—if they can find one at all (CBO, 2017; Office of the Clerk, 2022a, 2022b; HRSA, 2025a, 2025b; Dignity Health, 2025). That’s not “standing up to Washington.” It’s standing between his District and their doctor.

References

California Health Care Foundation. (2025a, May 1). Federal Medi-Cal cuts would devastate health care systems in California’s vast rural North. https://www.chcf.org/resource/federal-medicaid-cuts-would-devastate-health-care-systems-californias-vast-rural-north/ California Health Care Foundation

California Health Care Foundation. (2025b, October 3). How massive federal cuts will create unprecedented challenges for Medi-Cal patients and providers. https://www.chcf.org/resource/how-massive-federal-cuts-will-create-unprecedented-challenges-medi-cal-patients-providers/ California Health Care Foundation

Congressional Budget Office. (2017, May 24). H.R. 1628, American Health Care Act of 2017—Cost estimate. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52752 Congressional Budget Office

Dignity Health. (2025, June 3). 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment: Mercy Medical Center Redding. https://www.dignityhealth.org/content/dam/dignity-health/pdfs/chna/2025/2025-CHNA-MercyMedicalCenterRedding.pdf Dignity Health

Health Resources & Services Administration. (2025a). Health Workforce Shortage Areas—Dashboard (data as of Oct. 11, 2025). https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas/dashboard HRSA Data

Health Resources & Services Administration. (2025b). HPSA Find. https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/hpsa-find HRSA Data

LaMalfa, D. (2017, May 4). House passes American Health Care Act [Press release]. https://lamalfa.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-passes-american-health-care-act Lamalfa House

LaMalfa, D. (2022, August 15). Congressman LaMalfa opposes Democrats’ plan to drive up inflation and raise taxes [Press release]. https://lamalfa.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-lamalfa-opposes-democrats-plan-to-drive-up-inflation-and Lamalfa House

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. (2022a, August 12). Roll Call 420: H.R. 5376 (Inflation Reduction Act)—On motion to concur in the Senate amendment (Passed 220–207). https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022420 Clerk of the House

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. (2022b, March 31). Roll Call 102: H.R. 6833 (Affordable Insulin Now Act)—On passage (Passed 232–193). https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022102 Clerk of the House

UC Berkeley Labor Center. (2025, February 3). Medi-Cal enrollment and spending by district and county, 2024. https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/medi-cal-enrollment-by-district-and-county-2024/ UC Berkeley Labor Center

Shasta County Health & Human Services Agency. (2025, June 27). Access to health care providers in Shasta County—Survey results. https://www.shastacounty.gov/health-human-services/page/pr-access-health-care-providers-shasta-county-survey-results

lamalfa's voting record: healthcare

H.R. 3 — Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (116th Congress, 2019)

H.R. 1425 — Affordable Insulin Now Act (117th Congress, 2021)

H.R. 3 — Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions (Multiple sessions, ACA-related repeal vot

H.R. 4974 — Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (2023)

H.R. 4977 — Lower Health Care Costs Act (2023)

H.R. 3762 — Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (2016)

H.R. 7 — No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (2017)

H.R. 1 — One Big Beautiful Bill Act (119th Congress, 2025)

Doug LaMalfa’s Health-Care Voting Pattern: Cut first, ask his constituents to cope later.

References

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

lamalfa's voting record: healthcare

H.R. 3 — Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (116th Congress, 2019)

H.R. 1425 — Affordable Insulin Now Act (117th Congress, 2021)

H.R. 3 — Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions (Multiple sessions, ACA-related repeal vot

H.R. 4974 — Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (2023)

H.R. 4977 — Lower Health Care Costs Act (2023)

H.R. 3762 — Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (2016)

H.R. 7 — No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (2017)

H.R. 1 — One Big Beautiful Bill Act (119th Congress, 2025)

Doug LaMalfa’s Health-Care Voting Pattern: Cut first, ask his constituents to cope later.

References

This is not a complete list of lamalfa's voting record

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