Health Care
Meffert comments on Passage of Health Reform Bill
If we want to rebuild this economy and make American businesses competitive globally, we need to reform how we pay for health care and how health care is delivered. American auto manufacturers have to add thousands of dollars to the price of a car, just to pay for the health care benefits of the workers who made it. Premium increases are killing jobs and slowing our economic recovery. Not only is health care reform the morally right thing to do, it’s also right for our economy.
We need health insurance reform, but we also need to reform our health care system. Our premiums, co-pays and deductibles pay for drug company profits, salaries for high-paid specialists, insurance industry dividends and executive bonuses. We have to fight the monopolies those groups have on health care in this country and shift our dollars to where they will do the most good, in preventative care. Jim has been working to fix problems in the health care delivery system for 20 years. He will be ready to hit the ground running and fix the problems that remain even after a bill is passed this year.
No matter what bill the President signs this year, we all know that it will only be the first step towards true health care reform. There will still be work to be done to contain costs and keep insurance companies honest, but this bill is a first step towards achieving universal and affordable health care as a right, not a privilege.
As your Congressman, Jim will:
• Fight for competition in the insurance industry. Whether we create competition through a strong public option, a Medicare buy-in or non-profit insurance plans like we have in Minnesota, if there is a mandate to buy health insurance, consumers need to be protected through competition and strong regulation.
• Fight for competition within the health care system itself. Drug companies, specialists and medical device makers all have monopolies in various parts of the health care system. We have to hold them accountable as well if we plan to contain costs.
• Continue the work he has done for nearly 20 years on payment reform. We need to shift dollars away from specialist care and “sick care” to primary and preventative care.
• Support a payment structure that values quality of care over the quantity of care.
• Support efforts to improve wellness and fitness, especially among our children.
• Improve health care access by supporting the construction of community clinics in underserved areas. People shouldn’t be forced to go to the emergency room because they don’t have access to a primary care doctor in their community.
