Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

Every American should have access to basic, quality health care, not just those who are wealthy or who receive health care coverage through their employer. Every American should have the type of excellent health care insurance options available today to Members of Congress. In addition, our employers should not be making business decisions based on the spiraling cost of providing health care to employees. Even with the advances made through the Affordable Care Act, the current state of health care policy in America is immoral, unacceptable and unsustainable. It must change.
As the former Chief Operating Officer of a regional medical center, I am intimately acquainted with America's healthcare system. Here are a few key points:
Our system is the most expensive in the world, consuming over 17% of our national income. Yet by most objective measures (including life expectancy and infant mortality), our citizens are less healthy than in most western countries and even some third-world countries.
Our system is extremely inefficient, with total per person costs nearly double most other developed countries and administrative costs 3 times higher than Canada on a per-person basis.
The United States is the only country in the world that still relies primarily on employer-based plans for health care coverage. This burden, and the additional costs, placed on employers results in reduced global competitiveness for American business.
The plain truth is, as the saying goes, there is no free lunch. We already have a national health care system -- we just don't admit it or manage it well. It is estimated that those with insurance coverage pay higher taxes, hidden in the form of higher premiums, to pay for care received by the poor and uninsured who cannot pay. In addition, everyone pays higher fees to doctors and hospitals to cover the cost of those who receive treatment yet cannot or do not pay.
I believe a few, simple high-level concepts when looking at the issue of healthcare in our country:
We must strive to cover every single American with basic, quality coverage. It is the morally right thing to do and the economically right thing to do. There is no question that every citizen will need to use our health care system at some point in his or her life. Affordable access to health care is only possible with everyone's participation. If every American is covered by health insurance the increased distribution of health care costs will make health care more affordable for everyone.
We must reduce the burden on our businesses, especially small businesses, to maintain our competitiveness in a world economy. As someone who has started and run small businesses, I know the burden spiraling health care costs places on employers and employees alike. Employers should not have to make decisions on growth or investment based on the cost of health care, and employees should not be forced to remain in unsatisfying or unproductive positions solely to keep health care coverage. The percentage of employers offering health care coverage to employees has dropped dramatically in recent years due to inability to compete in a global environment.
We must maintain consumer choice in medical decisions. We need to ensure that medical decisions are taken out of the hands of insurance companies, medical product manufacturers and accountants, and that the right medical decisions are being made by consumers and their doctors. Electronic record-keeping, a Patient Bill of Rights, drug price negotiation, and an emphasis on paying for preventive care and healthier lifestyles are all approaches that will help to reduce costs while putting power into the hands of health care consumers.
We must control costs through an outcomes-based approach to healthcare. Technological advances in medicine are important. However, unlike the rest of our economy, technological advances in health care generally lead to higher, not lower prices. This is due to the lack of a true "free-market", lack of competition and the different way people consume health care as compared to, say, buying TVs or gas grills. Through electronic record-keeping and rigorous data analysis of existing and future treatments, we can look at what actually works and not just at what is the newest technology.
We have limited resources to allocate to health care. Our economy and citizens cannot continue to absorb double-digit increase in health care premiums and treatment costs without real-life, negative consequences -- losing jobs, losing homes, losing lives. We also pay dearly for the high cost of treating illness and disease that might otherwise have been avoided with regular preventive care such as check-ups and screening for the un- and under-insured.
Change will not be easy, and it will take courage. Powerful interests resist any attempt to alter the status quo. Let's face it -- it will be difficult to come up with easy answers to a complex issue. However, I pledge to work diligently to ensure that all Wyomingites, and all Americans, have the security of knowing they can access basic health care without running the risk of bankrupting themselves, their families and their country.

Source