Issue Position: Affordable Healthcare

Issue Position

Most bankruptcies prior to 2009 were the result of medical bills. Over half of these individuals had health insurance when they filed. Families and individuals should not have to decide on having medical procedures done and the possibility of having to file for bankruptcy. Healthcare has many problems associated with it. I worked with children where the insurance company changed their policy without informing the families. The insurance companies would continue to accept the higher premiums and reduced the benefits that were paid out. We need a healthcare system which focuses on preventative healthcare and not the reactive healthcare where you treat the symptoms and not the problems. Healthcare should not be a person going to the emergency room and treating the ER as the primary care provider. This places the potential for taxpayers to cover the cost of the medical bills. The 2 primary problems with healthcare are the funding formulas for insurance payments to healthcare providers, and the lack of experienced jobs in healthcare. To help with costs, we can begin by offering incentives that reduce premium payments for individuals taking part in healthy lifestyle changes. These can be through gym memberships, annual evaluations, maintaining healthy weight, non-smoker or smoker cessation, etc. Prices can also be decreased with streamlining procedures, offering individualized treatment options, optimizing referrals to specialists, and decreasing wait times for follow-up procedures by focusing on job growth in healthcare. We can establish more in-network providers along with satellite providers that will remove increased costs that are found out-of-network. There needs to be collaboration between healthcare providers and mental health providers that can offer dual treatment options. This will provide a greater availability of services provided for preventative healthcare. In addition, reform laws associated with medical malpractice and tort that leads to greater safety of individuals.

Source