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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) joined Mario Anderson on “In Focus Kentucky” this weekend to discuss his latest work on health care.

In his role as the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Guthrie has led investigations into rising insulin prices and the ongoing measles crisis. He also introduced the VACCINES Act to ensure families are aware of the benefits of vaccines. As a senior member of the committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Guthrie has been working on legislation to stop the practice of surprise medical billing.

WATCH: Guthrie on Lowering Drug Prices

“There are drugs like insulin where the prices are going up for no reason… Insulin has been around for 100 years, and some of the insulin people use now has been around since the 1990’s, so it’s not necessarily a big breakthrough drug now. So why is the price going up so high? We’ve had two hearings, and I hope to have more… We believe that if we get to the inefficiency in the supply chain that’s driving up the price of insulin, then we can extrapolate that to other drugs throughout the health care system.”

WATCH: Guthrie on Measles Vaccines

“Every parent loves their child dearly and wants the best for their child, but there seems to be lots of misinformation about vaccines in the public… What we want to do with the VACCINES Act is to make information available… The issue is that if you don’t get vaccinated, there are people who can’t get vaccinated, like people whose immune systems that have been compromised. If you choose not to vaccinate your child, not only is it a decision that affects your child, it could be threatening to a child who is already sick.”

WATCH: Guthrie on Surprise Medical Billing

“For many people to be able to afford insurance now, they have to pay higher co-pays and higher deductibles… Most people, when they go to the hospital, aren’t thinking to check if every doctor they’re seeing is in network. They’ve never had to do that because the deductibles weren’t so high. Now people are getting $5,000 anesthesiology bills, $6,000 pathology bills, and we’re trying to come up with a system where… if somebody chooses an in-network hospital, but somebody within that hospital is out of network, then there’s a reasonable fee.”

Click here to read more about Guthrie’s health care initiatives.

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