Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Access to adequate health care is a basic right. It is also an economic issue. Untreated chronic illness impacts absenteeism and the ability to hold a job. Although we have made great progress in Montgomery County in improving the quality of our citizen's lives many disparities remain in income, health and access to services. As of December 2013, 12 percent of our residents do not have health insurance coverage at all. America's health care system, while technologically advanced, has left many people without health insurance, in poor health and with few alternatives. The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as ACA or "ObamaCare") is the first opportunity to improve the lives of thousands of Marylanders without health insurance

Promote Awareness and Availability of Coverage: Implementation of the ACA is already underway to provide a marketplace for health insurers to provide competitive and affordable health insurance to all Marylanders who need to be covered. While working in the Obama White House, Will coordinated with local, state and national advocacy groups to promote and garner support to pass the ACA. Will continues to work tirelessly to educate the uninsured about enrollment options--including low-income and limited-English residents and to help notify small businesses about availability of employee coverage. Our county's levels of coverage and health improvement outcomes must be closely monitored as the program progresses.
Reduce Low Income and Minority Health Disparities: Income levels are tied to health outcomes. Will plans to improve access to health care services for low income, minority and immigrant populations by providing resources to:
Improve language access and interpretation services for non-English speaking patient groups
Enable clinics to open their doors during non-traditional business hours such as nights and weekends to accommodate hourly workers who are not able to get time off to visit a clinic during the business day
Increase access to preventative dental health services for individuals without dental insurance or the ability to pay
Improve mental health services with a focus on identifying troubled young people who may need additional help
Inform mothers about prenatal care, and empower them to use available resources to help reduce infant mortality rates

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