Because of my profession, I have dealt with a lot of healthcare issues in the state. I serve as the Vice-Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee and also sit on the Interim Committee as well. I feel that I am well-positioned to understand what is good and what is bad about healthcare in Utah. We do many things right in Utah with regards to healthcare. We continue to be able to treat patients with much less cost than other states, while still achieving the same outcomes. However, the overall approach to healthcare needs to be fixed. As long as we stay with a fee for a service model then costs will continue to go up. Medicaid is the 800 pound gorilla in the state budget. Through federal mandates it continues to gobble up a huge chunk of the budget. If the Federal Healthcare Reform Act (Obamacare) goes through as written, then starting in 2014 Utah will have to come up with $140 million dollars in new money every year just to keep up with the new requirements. Projections are that Medicaid could easily become 36% of our budget in the next 10 years (currently it is 18%). We passed legislation last year to move Medicaid to managed care: an accountable care organization model which gives medical providers incentives to keep people healthy, thus avoiding costly treatments that come when people don't stay healthy. This is also a good model to follow in regular healthcare as well. I have been heavily involved in healthcare discussions in the Legislature the past four years and will continue to do so if I am elected to the Senate.