Healthcare

American healthcare is in crisis--not only are far too many Americans suffering from lack of access to adequate care, increasingly the cost of healthcare is placing nearly intolerable financial burdens on Americans. Ironically, we spend an extraordinary amount on healthcare now as a nation. I am the only candidate in this race with a health care background.  I have a Bachelor of Science degree from Edinboro University in Dietetics and have spent 20 years as a Clinical Dietitian, including Chief Clinical Dietitian at a hospital in Texas.  I also understand health care from the employer perspective.  We offer health care to our employees in an industry where many employees do not.  I will take this knowledge and experience and use it to help negotiate a solution to our health care crisis.

First, I believe we must cover all our children.  This must be a priority.  We are the richest nation in the world and it is inexcusable that we have uninsured children.  This must be done first while we work towards a universal system.  We cannot allow the debate for the ‘right’ system to delay covering our children.

The basis for the system that I support puts the consumer in control, should be portable, include preventive care, long-term care, research, and a better prescription drug plan than we currently offer under Medicare. 

I believe we can pay for Universal Coverage by putting our healthcare system itself under a microscope. We need to study our cost structures; we need to better understand the relationship between expenditures on healthcare and patient success. We need to define our healthcare system so we spend with more precision and better patient outcomes.  We need to negotiate drug prices and encourage modernization.

We need to focus on the maintenance of good health, not simply the recovery of good health after the onset of sickness or disease. Preventive medicine in its many forms-including adequate prenatal care, early childhood care, physical fitness programs in schools, reasonable diets and other lifestyle choices-will allow us to be proactive, taking more control over and more responsibility for our own health. Preventive and early detection testing, often not covered by insurance, will save millions of dollars and most importantly lives.  In short, there are many things we must do to help our healthcare professionals better serve us.