Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Issue Position: Health Care

All North Dakotans benefit when each person has access to timely affordable quality health care.

Health care coverage has become unaffordable for an increasing number of North Dakota families, businesses and government. We need a North Dakota solution to secure our health within a healthy economy. All of us, individuals, employers, health providers, and government have a shared responsibility to realize comprehensive reforms in our health care system.

We can make sure there is:

A standard for health benefits, including prescription drugs, which covers what people need to be healthy and to be treated when they are ill. This standard must be developed in an open and participatory manner.

A focus on wellness and disease prevention. Public and private activities promoted by employers, insurance policy coverage, schools, including good nutrition and promotion of healthy life choices. Our state can be the healthiest in the nation by 2020.

A choice of doctors and health care providers.

Coverage through the largest possible groups in order to achieve affordable, quality coverage and to share risk fairly. Government can assure that risk is fairly spread among all payers and that insurers do not turn people away arbitrarily.

Administrative simplicity so North Dakotans can concentrate on better health rather than on accessing the complexity of the health care system process.

Cooperation and coordination of private and public health services.

Predictable costs to businesses and individuals, including an insurance option with premiums based on a family's ability to pay when other health insurance is not available.

The day after the election I will work with legislators introducing legislation to:

Cover all North Dakota children through Medicaid, the Healthy Steps program (CHIP), and the option to buy into a health care program based on family income.

Implement a comprehensive statewide health wellness program.

Develop an option for every adult to buy into a health care program based on income.

A major ingredient is leadership. Our mutual goal is timely affordable quality health care for all North Dakotans. By making common sense changes now we can do it.

Source