AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE FOR EVERYONE
Why Alan Cares
Alan grew up in a service family with a mother who was a nurse anesthetist and school nurse and a father who was a surgeon and oncologist. They were dedicated to providing all people with health care. His dad treated all people regardless of their ability to pay him, and over the course of his career had 20,000 patients, many whose lives he saved. It was never about what you could afford, it was about what you needed and how you should be treated. To them, quality healthcare was a human right. And Alan shares that commitment and will fight to make sure that all Americans have quality, affordable healthcare.
As the COVID-19 crisis makes clear, the lack of affordable, quality health care for everyone is unconscionable and threatens the health of everyone. It is a moral issue, as well as an economic and health care issue.
The Facts
- Providing healthcare to every American is a fight going back more than 100 years.
- The Affordable Care Act represented a significant step forward towards universal healthcare in this country, insuring more than 29 million people who could not afford healthcare before.
- In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the ACA based on the fact that it was a legal extension of Congress’ power to enact taxes.
- Over 84 thousand people in the fourth district and 61 million adults in America live with a disability
- When President Trump and Republicans in Congress eliminated the ACA’s individual mandate in their 2017 tax overhaul, and therefore its power to tax, they opened it up to countless court challenges.
- A study by Jackson Healthcare estimated between $650-850 billion is being spent each year on defensive medicine, or the practice of doctors ordering exams and procedures just to avoid liability lawsuits. This is completely wasted healthcare investment.
- If we don’t act soon, we may lose the Affordable Care Act as we know it.
ALAN'S ACTION PLAN
Alan supports building on President Obama’s Affordable Care Act and providing a “Medicare for all who want it” system. He supports a strong public option that will allow anyone who wants to use that option instead of private insurance the chance to do so. More than 215 million people in our country have private health insurance. If they want to, they can choose to give that up for a public option. But if we force people to leave their insurance, including Union workers who have bargained hard for strong health care plans and given up wages in return, we may lose the opportunity to build on the Affordable Care Act. Alan also supports bringing back the individual mandate. Alan strongly supports subsidies for low-income people so they can access the public option. Quality healthcare is a human right.
Alan will focus on reducing healthcare costs. That can be done by allowing Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate much lower prescription drug costs with the drug companies. He also supports buying lower cost drugs from Canada and other countries. Alan wants to move away from a payment system that incentivizes “heads in beds in hospitals” to one focused on treatment of illness to one focused on wellness and prevention.
Alan will work to end the practice of defensive medicine and streamline our healthcare system. This would open up hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for states and individuals to make healthcare more affordable and higher quality without any changes in taxes or government spending.
Alan will work to transform our healthcare system into one that is preventive instead of reactive. We need sensible investments in wellness and the Social and Environmental Determinants of Health (SEDOH), to proactively decrease the number of cases and reduce the time in emergency care of our most vulnerable communities
Alan will work to destigmatize and better fund mental healthcare. We need to bring anxiety, depression, and substance use out of the shadows. Treatment for these mental health needs must be affordable and covered in all health plans.
Alan believes in the right to choose, in this country and around the world. He will work to increase funding for Planned Parenthood, repeal the Hyde Amendment, reverse the Mexico City Policy on abortions and international aid, and ensure access to these health services for all communities. For more information on Gender equality, check out Alan’s page here.