Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

Americans demand and deserve the best medical care in the world, and our healthcare system faces significant challenges with skyrocketing costs and high numbers of uninsured individuals. But that doesn't mean we should tear down our entire healthcare system. Working people of the 3rd District should always be able to keep their employer-based and union-negotiated insurance. We can improve our current healthcare system with forward-thinking policies that lower costs and improve access while ensuring no one loses access to their doctors and all pre-existing conditions are covered.

Marie Newman's "Medicare for All" plan is the failed plan of socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that even many Democrats have rejected. It is not just radical policy, it's dangerous and dishonest. This plan uses the name of a popular program to cover up the fact that it's simply single-payer socialized medicine. The plan calls for $32 trillion of new spending in just the first decade. This would nearly double the total amount of money spent by the federal government annually, requiring massive tax hikes on all Americans, not just the wealthy. "Medicare for All" would severely limit access to doctors, stop people from being able to see their current physician, increase doctor and hospital wait times, and overload our emergency rooms.

We can do better. Republicans and Democrats must come together in Washington and bring forward a comprehensive solution that keeps the best parts of Obamacare, like protections for pre-existing coverage, while driving down healthcare costs.

Americans should be free to choose affordable insurance plans from anywhere in the country that meet the needs of their families. We must have increased insurance company competition which will lead to significant cost savings for 3rd District families.

Healthcare consumers must be allowed to see the actual costs of procedures before appointments. Healthcare is the only sector of our economy with a secret pricing scheme that makes people choose services without ever knowing the costs. When we let consumers see the prices of these services, they will be able to make better-informed choices for their families' medical care while reducing their out-of-pocket costs.

Doctors also pay incredibly high medical malpractice rates, especially in the 3rd District, due to opportunistic frivolous lawsuits against our doctors. By enacting real tort reform measures on a federal scale, we will lower costs for doctors, which will lead to lower healthcare for all Americans.

By implementing mainstream, commonsense solutions in our healthcare system, we can ensure that all Americans have access to high quality, affordable health care that protects pre-existing conditions and remains the envy of the rest of the world.

Finally, we must stop outsourcing our over the counter and prescription drugs as well as medical equipment. We have learned during this COVID-19 pandemic that the United States can ill afford to be in debt to the Chinese and the Chinese Communist Party for life-saving drugs, medical devices, and personal protective equipment.

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