Issue Position: Accessible and Affordable Healthcare

Issue Position

Healthcare should be accessible and affordable. Too often when people talk about access to healthcare, they ignore the most important barrier between people and better care: its high and unpredictable cost.
The question that every health care policy decision should hinge on is this: what does this reform do to improve healthcare outcomes and deliver them at an affordable and transparent price?
As the husband of an attending physician in an intensive care unit, I understand how the specter of regulatory mismanagement and meritless lawsuits can color all sorts of decisions they shouldn't -- career choices, patient care, and hospital policies, among other things. I'll be an advocate for making this a better place to practice medicine, but also for reforms that empower patients to make informed choices about their care with their physicians.
I will favor reforms that take the surprises out of healthcare pricing, and do more to reward overall positive health care outcomes than services rendered. For example, we should explore bonus grants for hospitals and counties meeting key benchmarks for administering CDC-recommended vaccines and decreasing rates of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.
Targeted investments in our state's supply of healthcare professionals (largely, though not exclusively, the number of medical residents in the state) can have a positive effect on the cost curve. Debt remission initiatives for residents who commit to staying in Florida after completion of their residencies should be explored, in consultation with local healthcare and insurance companies that stand to gain from the availability of more medical talent.

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