#1 – Health Care

Affordable access to health care for everyone is a fundamental necessity for our society.  It is an ugly smear on our nation, the richest country in the world with a morally bankrupt Congress that will not ensure all citizens have the health care they need. This is a crisis!  The notion of “insurance” for our health needs is ridiculous.  Insurance is for “in case” something happens; therefore, you will have financial coverage.  There is no “in case of” with your health.  Many of you had a doctor deliver you into this world and checked to make sure that you were healthy.  You WILL need to see a health care provider at some point in your life.  There is no “insured in case” you might have to see one.  That is why it is important to change the conversation from Health Insurance to Health Care.  Congressman John Carter supports a corrupt profit system where your health needs are a commodity on the stock exchange and your medical services are determined by profit margins.  This is a serious ethical and moral issue.  It degrades the dignity of people.  This profit motive notion for health services is why we have a rationed based system based on what you can pay.  This may be good for Carter’s big medical insurance donors, but it is bad for the citizens of District 31 and our nation.  We can do far better.

The Affordable Care Act succeeded in getting millions of people health coverage, people who fell in the gap of not qualifying for Medicaid and not having the income to pay for medical care or not having an employer that could provide health insurance.  The Affordable Care Act ensured you weren’t denied coverage for “pre-existing conditions” and made preventive care a required coverage.  Many of us remember how bad the health insurance system was before the ACA became law, and no one except John Carter wants to go back to a bad system.  Of course, Mr. Carter has full health coverage paid for by you the taxpayers.

The private health insurance industry has an average of 15% overhead in operations. Medicare only has a 2% overhead.  It doesn’t take a CFO to figure out which is more cost effective.  For a system to provide efficient coverage for a segment of our population with the highest medical needs, it should be a no brainer to ask why we can’t have the same coverage for everyone? There are certainly no technical, logistical, or financial reasons for that.  The only reason is that Congressional leaders in the pockets of BIG MONEY insurance companies prevent us from moving away from profit-making health insurance to true health care coverage.

It is not just about the patients’ needs when we talk health care. It also means our doctors, nurses, and medical technicians are treated like the medical professionals they are.  It means not pressuring them from private industry executives, who may have no medical background, into being money making machines.

The saying that prevention is worth a pound of cure is an understatement when it comes to health care.  Many chronic conditions later in life (obesity, diabetes, and heart disease) can potentially be avoided by a healthy lifestyle. Increasing healthful eating programs, physical activity campaigns, and smoke free environments among just some of the positive steps that can be taken.

We certainly have other ongoing challenges in our society like limited access to physicians in rural areas, and limited resources for health education.  We can do more by promoting preventive health awareness like healthy, tasty, and affordable eating.  Educating everyone that exercise is the best medicine is a must!

​Every modern industrialized nation except ours has affordable health care for its citizens. Why not our beloved USA? Everyone’s life depends on access to affordable health care.  Our nation’s future depends on it. Let’s ensure that it is a right for all.  Help me get elected to Congress so we can make this meaningful change finally happen!