Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Our healthcare system is broken - it is complex, confusing and not affordable.

Healthcare is eating away our bank accounts. America spends about $2 trillion a year on healthcare. That comes to about $7,000 per person. It amounts to 17% of our gross domestic product…compare that to 4% spent on the military.

I believe we can lower costs, insure more people, and increase quality. To do so we need to look at several ideas.

Preventive Care: We need to look at all the government healthcare programs and see how we can reform them so they don't just TREAT health problems, but they help PREVENT health problems. It is cheaper to treat diabetes than amputate someone's foot; and the effect of a treatment based system could save billions in tax dollars--We see this with the new Prescription Drug Plan, which I voted for, because seniors get initial screenings when they join the plan.

Technology: I support expanding technology throughout the healthcare industry so that personal medical records and billing are on computers and can be easily accessed, while protecting privacy. This electronic method saves money and, if done right, can provide better treatment with less error.

HSAs: I support Health Savings Accounts so that those who have consistent annual healthcare costs can plan ahead and get ahead. HSAs allow people to place money in an account and pay expenses with tax free dollars.

Association Health Plans: I support the idea that small businesses should be able to pool their resources to buy cheaper healthcare for their employees. I've consistently voted for this, but the Senate won't pass it.

Individual Deductions: I support individual deductions for healthcare premiums.

Freedom To Shop Around: And I like the idea of allowing people who need insurance to shop across state lines to find the best, and cheapest, plan that matches their healthcare needs.

I have:

· Voted for legislation to provide affordable prescription drug coverage for needy seniors.

· Voted to guarantee a point-of-service option that allows patients to pursue other avenues of health care when they feel necessary.

· Co-sponsored legislation that would prohibit anesthesia services without physician supervision.

· Voted to prohibit health plans from refusing to cover emergency room services.

· Voted to lift the gag rule clause, imposed by many health plans, so doctors and patients can have an open line of communication.

· Voted to provide women with direct access to an OB/GYN without having to go through a health plan's bureaucratic gatekeeper.

· Voted to allow pediatricians to be designated as a primary care physician for children under the age of 18.

· Voted to increase Medicare reimbursements to physicians.

· Voted to create confidentiality safeguards to protect personal and sensitive health care data from abuse.

· Voted to establish an internal and external review process. It will allow patients to challenge the decisions made by a health plan in a manner that will result, not in litigation, but in getting the patient the care they need.

· Voted to expand Medical Savings Accounts so patients have increased access to health care services and greater control over their health care dollars.

I don't believe in a government run healthcare system. Do you really want the same government that responded to Katrina, and who can't seal off our borders, to run and control your healthcare?

What we must do is get patients, doctors, insurance companies, drug companies, and healthcare experts together and figure out what we can do to help people with the cost of healthcare. Because I can tell you the government doesn't have the answer. To impose a government run system on everyone ignores that people have different healthcare needs…and it ignores the fact that it would kill ingenuity and research. We have already seen this in the VA healthcare system, where veterans can't get some drugs they need, because their plan is limited.

Cancer Work Highlights

As a breast cancer survivor I know the importance of early detection and prevention. I am co-chair of the House Cancer Caucus and work with my colleagues to fight this deadly disease. In congress I have:

· Sponsored and passed legislation to provide treatment for breast and cervical cancer for low-income, uninsured women.

· Sponsored legislation to provide grant money to study the link between breast cancer and the environment.

· Continued to vote for increases in the budget for the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute.

Voted to re-authorize the Mammography Quality Standards Act, which establishes national and uniform standards for mammographies.

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