On March 7th, President Joe Biden delivered a State of the Union address that will go down as the most divisive in American history. He turned the annual tradition into a campaign event, launching attack after attack against his political opponent and rural communities. He painted Americans who believe in the right to life as extremists, and directly attacked the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade. He falsely claimed that Republicans are responsible for his border crisis, and that we want... READ MORE
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Jason Smith (Mo.) sent a letter urging U.S. Army Major General Christopher G. Beck, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood Commanding General, to reverse the decision to limit access to Fort Leonard Wood’s South and West gates to prevent any further harm to communities surrounding the installation. As Smith noted in the letter, the gate closures are disrupting commerce and negatively impacting the livelihoods of local families, workers... READ MORE
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Congressman Jason Smith introduced the Permanency for Audio-Only Telehealth Act, which would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) to continue reimbursing Medicare providers for certain audio-only telehealth visits. At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, Congressman Smith held a call with 50 health care providers, doctors, and other medical professionals from around southern Missouri to hear from them about what resources they need and how he... READ MORE
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO) praised the Trump Administration’s updated Medicare guidance announced on Monday, which will permit health care providers to evaluate seniors over the telephone instead of in person or requiring a video conference. Smith has been urging the Administration to make this change to Medicare’s telehealth requirements after hearing concerns from rural health care providers. Two weeks ago, Congressman Smith held a call with 50 health care providers, docto... READ MORE
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO) introduced the Preventing Pandemic Profiting Act to ensure hard-working families are protected from price gouging of medical and non-medical essentials with the outbreak of coronavirus. Protecting American consumers from price gouging is a focus of President Donald Trump and his administration. During a press conference at the White House on February 26, President Trump said his administration would “definitely investigate” any reports of price gou... READ MORE
When I was a freshman in high school, I was summoned before my local city council over their objections to my FFA project. Their inflexible position forced my family to make a tough decision: if I wanted to keep my project operating—which is ultimately how I paid my way through college—my family and I would be forced to leave town. After multiple attempts to change the city’s mind, we moved outside the city limits. After my experience, I wanted to make sure the government did not intrude on othe... READ MORE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) formally introduced the No Abortion Bonds Act, which prohibits the use of federal tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction of abortion clinics. “For 42 years it has been law in this country that no federal funds can be used for abortion services,” said Congressman Jason Smith. “Yet a loophole in the tax code remains, allowing abortion clinics to be built using federally subsidized tax-free bonds. The No Abortion Bonds Actwould remedy this an... READ MORE
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) introduced H.R. 7253, the Remove Extraneous Measures that Obstruct Value and Efficiency (REMOVE) Act, designed to improve the Medicare program to benefit seniors. “For too long, Washington has inundated hospitals and health care providers seeing Medicare patients with ineffective and non-essential red tape,” said Congressman Smith. “It’s time we move away from this failing approach and allow doctors to spend more time with their patien... READ MORE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald J. Trump signed H.R. 6, the SUPPORT Act, into law Wednesday, which includes Congressman Jason Smith’s (MO-08) Perioperative Reduction of Opioids (PRO) Act, designed to fight the opioid addiction epidemic in the United States. Rep. Smith’s legislation will help prevent opioid misuse and abuse after patients are discharged from surgery, where patients are most likely to be exposed to opioids. Smith’s bill will also better inform patients on pain management and s... READ MORE
Information is power. Unfortunately, current rules and regulations are preventing you from having all the information you need when paying for certain prescription drugs. That’s right, red tape and insider deals meant to benefit bottom lines are preventing your local pharmacy from being able to tell you if you could pay less for the same prescriptions. That all changed last week when President Trump signed into law a ban of “gag clauses,” which had previously benefited health care industry insid... READ MORE
