Healthcare
We don’t have healthcare in this country, we have sick care. We must address the problems in our healthcare system. With about 47 million Americans lacking health insurance – and many more unable to afford skyrocketing costs – the United States is facing a health care crisis. As a small business owner, I know the strain that rising health care costs place on families, small business, and local communities. The U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world on both a per-capita basis and as a percentage of GDP.
Together we can build a broad based coalition to design a plan that emphasizes preventive care, expands the SCHIP program to kids and makes it illegal for insurance companies to cherry pick and deny treatment because of pre-existing conditions. Increasing access to quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans, and especially preventive care, is the key to reducing healthcare costs for all Americans. We must start by fixing the prescription drug program and investing in stem cell and other medical research.
I believe we must find a bipartisan solution that provides health care access to everyone. By increasing coverage, we can reduce visits to the emergency room and ensure that no family is forced to choose between quality health care and other necessities. I pledge to work with President Obama, Republicans and Democrats in Congress and leaders in the health care industry to find common ground on ways to expand health care coverage to all Americans.
I applaud the bipartisan passage of an expansion of the successful State Children’s Health Insurance Program as an important step forward in making sure every American has access to quality health care.
I also support federally funded stem cell research. This research holds promise to provide cures to some of the most devastating diseases including childhood diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s and new studies have shown that new treatments are being used to aid in some forms of macular degenerative induced blindness.
As your congressman I will work to:
• Establish healthcare as an affordable right, not a privilege.
• Make every effort to immediately provide affordable health coverage for all American children. Push for expansion of health coverage for children nationwide.
• Vote for targeted funding of research, development, and public awareness campaigns for diseases, disorders, and conditions about which there is insufficient public knowledge.
• Direct the federal government to negotiate lower Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
• Eliminate federal regulations that discourage small businesses from providing coverage.
• Give doctors the freedom to collectively negotiate with insurance companies and drive down the cost of medical care.
• Make every American eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA), and remove the requirement that individuals obtain a high-deductible insurance policy before opening an HSA.
• Reform licensure requirements so that pharmacists and nurses can perform some basic functions to increase access to care and lower costs.
I will support legislation such as:
• H.R. 2717, the Access to Medical Treatment Act, which expands the ability of Americans to use alternative medicine and new treatments.
• H.R. 477, the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act, which will provide for a more aggressive campaign to promote stroke prevention and increase the number of stroke patients who seek immediate treatment.
I support President Obama’s plan to provide affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, which builds on the existing healthcare system, and uses existing providers, doctors. I support the plan to lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.
Health care should not be left up to HMOs, big drug companies, and government bureaucrats. By removing federal regulations, encouraging competition, and presenting real choices, we can make our healthcare system the envy of the world once again.
