Issue Position: Healthcare and Insurance

Issue Position

The young man works 2 part-time jobs. He lives independently. He recently injured himself, and had stitches and a tetanus shot at the fast track emergency center. When he registered at the facility, he produced his insurance card.

This young man pays monthly premiums for enrollment in the HIP Plus---Healthy Indiana Plan. He is proud that he is insured. This is how health care should work. Everyone wins. The young man received care for his injury. His tetanus shot will prevent a potential serious complication. The facility gets reimbursed. Emergency rooms cannot turn away a patient with a serious injury. And while reimbursement from the HIP program may not be as high as an employer-sponsored plan, it is certainly better than nothing. And that is what our emergency rooms will most likely get if our residents aren't insured--nothing.

Once elected, I will work to engage all partners. Local hospitals and outpatient facilities, physician offices, nurses and advanced nurse practitioners, and other health care providers all have important roles in the prevention of illness and treatment of disease. Individuals should be treated as stakeholders, and assume some responsibility for their own health. So let's keep health care, and the means to pay for it, within reach of everyone in our state.

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