Issue Position: Affordable Health Care

Issue Position

I support the Minnesota Health Plan, a proposed single payer system that would cover all the health care costs of Minnesotans for all of their medical needs. All Minnesotans would contribute to paying for this system, according to ability to pay, and it would replace all premiums, co-payments and other costs currently paid by employers and employees.

All Minnesotans need have fair access to affordable health care regardless of income level or employment status. I am currently uninsured, so I know what it's like to avoid seeking medical care for fear of the costs that I cannot afford! Many businesses and nonprofit organizations cannot afford to provide health care coverage for their employees. Too many people lose coverage when they lose their jobs. The government should play a major role in creating access for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, and regulating the industry because this is one which should not be driven by profits! The Affordable Healthcare Act, aka "Obama-care" in Republican circles, has some great provisions, but it does not go far enough. The Minnesota Health Plan would!

You can call me a (democratic) socialist if you want; I won't disagree. We already have a hybrid capitalist/socialist society, but we need to do better in light of huge disparities, or inequality in income/wealth, and growing health care costs under the current profiteering system which has denied people coverage based on ability to pay, and pre-conditions. I believe government should primarily focus on assisting people who can't afford the cost of living for basic needs, including health care. (On the other hand, I also believe in entrepreneurship and individual / family wealth building, so don't incorrectly label me.)

As the apt cliché says, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Preventative healthcare is far more cost-effective and less painful. Ensuring that everyone has coverage will produce tremendous cost savings because most people would receive care before they develop preventable injuries, illnesses and diseases. It would be beneficial for our state to aggressively target the people who account for the greatest share of health care costs to be treated proactively. When people are un and underinsured they neglect medical health care until they experience health crises which end up costing the system far more than preventative care would. Reducing costs of the highest risk patients with preventative care is the ideal approach to reducing overall system costs, because nearly all of them end up in the emergency room when their continued heart beat and breathing become dependent on it.

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