Some progress has been made on the federal level to provide universal access to health care, but Washington State can still take important steps to ensure greater levels of access for its own citizens.
First and foremost, all children in Washington must have access to quality health care and I strongly support the initiative to make that happen. We should focus on preventive care rather than having to be reactive with expensive trauma and chronic disease care.
We also need to innovate. In an environment of narrow profit margins and budgetary restraints we must be more creative in the health care field. There are models of health care plans that put in place disease management guidelines focusing on health rather than health care, and achieve the best outcomes while containing costs. We should provide incentives and create an atmosphere that allows us to replicate those successful models.
What should the state do to ensure health care for all residents? I believe it’s time for the important conversation about reforming health care financing so we can reduce the enormous administrative costs of the current system while also preserving patients’ freedom of choice and the quality of care.
All Washington residents can have access to affordable healthcare through one statewide pool of insureds, spreading the risk across the entire population to achieve the lowest per capita cost. All residents would be required to have at least catastrophic coverage, so the low-risk cohorts (from 18 to 34 years old) would help bring down the cost for the rest of us.
Business should no longer have to bear the burden of providing their employees with health care coverage. Individuals should have their own portable plans and their choice of private doctors and private insurance, NOT “socialized medicine” where doctors work for the state. The state would only be the broker for individuals to buy private plans, thereby consolidating the financing to reduce the shockingly-high overhead in the current health insurance market.
Too many voters I meet every day are taking undue risks with their health care. The conflicting incentives for business and health care are running headlong into each other and people are denied procedures or medication because insurers won’t make a profit. I believe that’s unethical.