--empower families and individuals and their doctors to make important healthcare decisions.
--empower people by giving them more choices and promoting competition to drive costs down and increase access to healthcare.
“Government intervention always limits choices. Enacting a government-run public option is something that neither I nor a majority of Coloradans and Americans support.”
We need:
--market-based solutions that will slash costs without ceding control of 17% of our economy to the federal government
--medical malpractice tort reform that limits expensive and frivolous lawsuits that drive up healthcare and insurance costs and result in unnecessary defensive medicine
--tax equity so that those who buy their own insurance receive the same tax benefits as those who get insurance through their employers
--high-risk pools so those with pre-existing conditions may be covered
--portability of health insurance
We must:
--make cost and quality information plainly available to consumers
--change regulations that discourage individuals and small businesses from utilizing Health Savings Accounts
--give small businesses opportunities to pool risk and resources across state lines
--find a fiscally responsible way to make quality health care affordable and accessible
--control the dramatic increases in health care costs that are crippling families and small businesses
--allow people to keep their insurance when they change jobs
--prohibit health insurance companies from denying care based on preexisting conditions
--reform the Medicare payment system so it allows doctors to focus on treating the patient instead of providing incentives for providers to perform more tests
-- provide Medicare patients leaving the hospital with “coaches” to aid with a sustained recovery strategy that avoids high hospital readmission rates
-- close the prescription drug donut hole that requires seniors with $2,400 in drug costs to pay100% of their drug bills until their drug costs reach $3,850
--provide affordable prescription drugs to seniors