Healthcare
To say that healthcare in this country is a mess is a gross understatement. The federal government has no business being in the healthcare industry. Since Obamacare was introduced, things have only gotten worse. Unfortunately, most of the decisions related to healthcare are made at the federal level and then states are forced to work inside those parameters. This situation leaves states scrambling to do the best they can with what they have. Ultimately the solution will be for federal legislature to remove constraints and move us to a free market style of healthcare instead of a government sponsored one. We constantly hear of prospective doctors and nurses who don’t enter the field because they don’t want to face extra red tape and decreased pay schedules.
Meanwhile, as your state representative, I will look at the numbers and the pros and cons to help our state make the best decisions possible to protect our most vulnerable. Also, we must look at our hospitals and be able to keep them solvent. If someone goes to the hospital for care and has no insurance or ability to pay, the hospital will still treat the person but then receive no payment. The only option for the hospital is to either take a loss or pass that cost on to the next person who does pay or has insurance. Neither of these options is a viable long-term solution.
Another concern is federal mandates and overreach. We lived through this with COVID. We cannot allow the federal government to pass mandates that affect the entire country based on their perceived “science.” Looking back, we see the disastrous consequences of failed policies. Fortunately, our Republican governor rolled back some of these edicts when he took office. We need conservative people in charge of local government who believe in personal responsibility and local decision making.
Personal responsibility is one of the greatest determinants of health. We are one of the unhealthiest societies that has ever existed. People are the least active and mobile that they have ever been but are consuming more calories and processed foods. This in turn leads to an unhealthy population and obvious increases in healthcare costs. We now see people visiting the doctor’s office for every sniffle and cough. We have created a culture of irresponsibility in this area because there are no costs incurred for the medical care. Poor lifestyle choices by some shouldn’t cause the costs of healthcare for everyone else to increase because of federal policies. We are still blessed in this country with personal choice, and I support that, but eventually that comes with a cost. If you choose to engage in unhealthy lifestyle choices and not take care of yourself, then it isn’t someone else’s job to pay for your care later in life.
Our system is broken, and the federal government is not the answer. Healthcare is not a right. What started as a system to help the needy has grown to a bureaucracy that reaches into all aspects of our lives, and the current system is unsustainable. We must work to bring back individual responsibility, taking pride in your work, and caring for your family. While many people are trying to create a federal healthcare system to cover everyone, I will work to make sure that doesn’t happen. I will instead focus my efforts on helping to create a system that is sustainable and attracts the best and brightest individuals back to the field of medicine.
