Issues: Healthcare & Comprehensive Reform
Healthcare & Comprehensive Reform
We can no longer ignore 190,000 Nebraskans and 46 million other Americans who remain uninsured and unprotected. Comprehensive health care can be realized through immediate system-wide reforms that achieve coverage for all Americans. Comprehensive reform will not only improve health care quality and safety; it will also reduce costs and simplify health care administration.
As the richest country in the world, it is absolutely inexcusable that we are not the most proficient at providing health care for our citizens. I will fight to ensure that every American has health care coverage. This proactive care will serve to shorten the overall length and expense of treatment. This is beneficial to the patient and also serves the purpose of reducing the administrative costs involved with health care delivery.
Covering the uninsured will be the first priority of a system-wide health care reform package. Health care provider and insurance company costs will be reduced, resulting in lower insurance premiums for American families. This will save them hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars a year.
I will propose the following policies to reform our healthcare system:
Establish a National Core Benefit Package – A package to cover emergency care, acute care, prescription drugs, preventative care, care for chronic conditions, and end-of-life care. This Core Benfit Package must be current with advances in medical breakthroughs and available to those covered by the plan. This health care package will also:
- Provide access to those who have a proven need
- Allow continuity
- Require individuals to establish they have coverage by appending documentation to their annual tax returns
Establish a National Health Care and Wellness Board - This will create a board from a broad spectrum in the health community with responsibilities to include:
- Keeping costs and premium increases at a sustainable level
- Making sure that the best practices and safety measures are followed by our medical professionals, learning institutions and hospitals.
- Reviewing and adjusting the Core Package for advancement in medicine
- Promoting a cultural shift towards wellness by all Americans
Create a National Database for Medical Records - America must move towards making our patient records available on-demand. The technology is available, we just need the leadership and vision to see it happen. This would also include prescription ordering and billing. A common complaint in the health community is the cost associated with medical records housing and this will provide for decreased costs, lessen errors, and provide information anywhere in the United States.
Promote Preventative Care and Wellness Initiatives - Americans must have a cultural shift to become more active and healthy. Innovative incentives and programs must be developed for businesses and consumers to follow suit. Programs should encourage health, fitness and preventative care. This will help to lower costs over the long-term. America is lagging behind many other industrialized nations in its measures for preventative care. Moving from providing “sick care” to true health care is a fundamental step in the right direction.