For Seven years, no issue has involved my attention like that of providing quality healthcare to as many people as possible. No issue has also given me as much joy when we have achieved great successes and frustration at the opportunities lost.
As someone who has worked on this issue, I can tell you it is easy to say you support single payer or support universal healthcare. You can even put it on a ball cap, but writing legislation that will work and actually help people is another matter.
I know what it is like to be uninsured. I have been on medicaid and I have been on employer based healthcare. No one needs to lecture me or tell me of the urgency of this issue for the lives or about how important it is. No need to babble on about whether it is a right or a responsibility. I HAVE LIVED IT and I can tell you it is a necessity for life, it requires personal responsibility and it is a right.
For me if someone needs preventative treatment or a medication or both, to deny them care in the name of saving a little money now, is not only stupid, it is immoral. Doing so will lead to later treatments costing far more at the tax payers expense, reduced quality of life and possible removal from being able to work. Does that sound like a wise cost savings approach? If you say no, then we agree. Simple math says that costs more money.
If elected to the House, I will introduce companion legislation similar that of Senator Scott's bill. It is my belief that the basic framework we adopted in 2014, involving a public option, sliding scale subsidies, emphasis on preventative care, moving away from employer based care, as much choice as possible and regional involvement in the decision making on the number of available choices is the appropriate framework. As of right now, Scott's bill is the closest we are going to get to that at the present time.
If you want someone who will stand up for a system that maximizes access but seeks to minimize costs in responsible ways, come out and vote this weekend and make your voices heard.
