I support universal access to healthcare.

Everyone living in the United States should have access to quality healthcare. Our healthcare system is suffering badly from neglect, and the costs of that neglect are overwhelming. Our healthcare system has become inefficient, and spiraling costs are hurting families, employers and our nation’s economic growth. Some examples of this are:

• Healthcare costs 53% more in the U.S. than in the next most expensive country.
• 24% of healthcare costs are spent on administration, not patient care.
• 12% of healthcare costs are diverted to compensate for care for the uninsured.
• Many small business owners can’t afford health insurance for themselves or their employees.
• 80% of people without health insurance are in working families.

While some support a single payer system, I am open to any plan that would provide universal access. We must provide coverage to every resident. We can then focus on providing care in the most efficient manner, with an emphasis on prevention and early intervention. We must standardize administrative procedures and insurance reimbursements.

Healthcare coverage should include prescription drugs, dental care, and mental health care. Addressing these needs will preclude more expensive treatment later.

Prescription drug costs must be contained. To do this, we must close loopholes that allow drug companies to extend patent life repeatedly by delaying research into additional uses and patient populations. We must also reduce the administrative burden required to win new drug approval. Current regulations require multiple truckloads of documents be submitted for each new drug application. We ought to be able to reduce the paperwork requirement to a single truckload of paperwork, while retaining the required proof of safety and efficacy.