Issue Position: Keys to Effective Healthcare

Issue Position

Apart from the many access-to-care (implementation of the healthcare exchange) and reproductive health causes I fought for in the legislature last session, the one major step that needs to be taken in Washington is the recognition of access to quality health care as a fundamental right held by every resident. I believe this should be in our state Constitution.

If every Washington resident has a fundamental right to access quality healthcare, the debate over which of the competing proposals for healthcare reform is fundamentally changed. This is particularly true if the US Supreme Court strikes down our federal law. We can transform the health care debate with this constitutional referendum, and I have the statewide organizing background to work with my fellow legislators and the health care advocacy community, including labor, to make this a reality. If the federal law is stricken (as sought by WA's AG), we must be prepared to act quickly, and I would work immediately to move our State towards a single payer system, buttressed by a campaign to recognize access to affordable quality health care as a fundamental right.

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