Working together, we can address some of the problems in health care. Health care is one of the defining issues for the 2008 presidential election. We have already seen the veto of SCHIP and all Republican plans for health insurance involve giveaways to private health insurers. I do not intend to compete with other universal or near-universal health care plans floating around. Many working lower and middle class families subsist with no or substandard health care. Many are one significant health incident away from financial ruin. Too many people have been driven into bankruptcy by medical costs.

COBRA Expansion

Although this will not solve the overall health insurance issue, I want to allow former employees to stay on COBRA indefinitely until they sign on to another plan.  This will at least mitigate some of the impacts of job layoffs by allowing the former employees to keep their insurance at the group rate.  I recognize that many family plans are unaffordable at their full cost, but it will allow many who are able to find jobs that do not provide health care the opportunity of keeping a health care plan that they are familiar with. The costs charged to older individuals and families for stand alone plans are usurious. 

Nursing Shortage I do know that we are facing a shortage in nursing, partially driven by the hard work and the work conditions (I understand that they vary greatly from system to system), in addition to chronically low pay. As private health systems work to maintain profitability, some keep wages down as much as possible. Some public health systems have been mismanaged and can not pay fair wages for nurses. The effect has been less people entering the field, as well as the poaching of nurses from other countries, creating shortages in those nations. This shortage will become more acute as the baby boomers retire. I will work with all stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve the situation before the problem becomes worse.

Tax Treatment of Health Care Costs

While the self-employed and those who are provided health insurance through their companies receive a tax benefit, workers who have individual plans receive no benefit unless it exceeds 7.5% of their adjusted gross income. Uninsured individuals should also be able deduct major non-elective medical expenses from their incomes. I plan to let President Bush’s tax cuts expire in the omnibus tax reform bill that I would propose. These changes would be included in that bill.
 

Strengthening Community Bridges for Community Health Systems The problems associated with the Prince George's County Hospital System were well known. The system serves about 180,000 people in Prince George’s County. I will work with elected and community leaders in both counties to prevent these types of problems in the future. I will also work with them to evaluate options for creating community health services groups that allow the residents of the 4th congressional district who are uninsured to pay negotiated (by the counties) rates for various services, as if they were in a traditional health care plan. The uninsured are charged multiples of what the insured pay for the same level of service. The idea is to reduce the level of discrimination between the insured and uninsured for basic health services. The same applies to the cost of prescription drugs. It is unconscionable to ask the poor and uninsured to pay significantly more than the insured for the same service. The cost of a single visit to my doctor’s office by the uninsured would cost approximately twice what I pay through my health insurance. I will also evaluate opportunities for expanding the National Health Service Corps, which could significantly benefit urban and rural areas across the country.