Healthcare
Healthcare costs continue to skyrocket. An estimated 530,000 families turn to bankruptcy each year due to medical debt. 66% of all bankruptcies are due to medical debt. It is time we alleviate this burden for the people of Illinois.
We should be spending money on doctors, nurses, mental health specialists, dentists, and other professionals who provide services to people and improve their lives. We must invest in the development of new drugs and technologies that cure disease and alleviate pain—not wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a year on profiteering, huge executive compensation packages, and outrageous administrative costs.
In 2013, my wife and I were blessed with our second child. We were elated to bring another person into this world, and watch them grow. However, we soon experiences what hundreds of thousands of people before us had experienced. The healthcare provider did not cover the birth under the family plan that we had through our employer. Due to a misunderstanding, and delayed notification of the child's birth by both myself and my employer, we missed the window to allow our new child to be included in our plan. Through fighting the system, we found many of the ways the system is designed to not protect us. None of the costs for anything the baby was charged was covered. My wife went to an "out of network provider" for the delivery because we thought there was a serious condition, but it turned out not to be serious, so insurance would not cover her as if we had gone to an in-network provider driving up costs again. In the end, we were forced to file bankruptcy. We should not go broke because we have babies, or get sick, or injured. We should not have to debate whether or not we are "sick enough" to seek medical care because it may ruin us. We should not suffer in physical pain, because the pain of repaying those bills may be too high. We need a better option, and a single-payer system is that option.
The cost of medical care in America is too high. We pay for expensive insurance, which usually requires a co-pay and/or deductibles. You have to receive care in your network, or suffer penalties. After receiving care, if you we need medicine, we have a whole new set of bills to pay and worry about. This is wrong. We should be spending money on doctors, nurses, mental health specialists, dentists, and other professionals who provide services to people and improve their lives. We must invest in the development of new drugs and technologies that cure disease and alleviate pain—not wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a year on profiteering, huge executive compensation packages, and outrageous administrative costs.
Illinois has the 5th largest GDP in the United States with $820,362,000,000 coming in during 2017. To compare to another GDP around the globe, Illinois comes in just under the Netherlands’ GDP by about $5 Billion. We believe we need to expand Medicare to provide coverage for all of the citizens in Illinois. We propose we create a system of healthcare similar to that of the Netherlands. With some adjustment to our expenditures, and the ability to negotiate prices with the healthcare industry, we have an opportunity to better provide healthcare for all of our citizens in Illinois. Additionally, by finding new ways to generate income, we believe we have the opportunity to implement this system, at a low cost to the taxpayer.
Health insurance should include coverage for all types of health care. This includes, mental health, physical health, dental, and eye coverage. We should be able to go to the doctors that we are comfortable with to receive all of the care that we need. It is time we ensure that we are covering both our mental and physical health. This would be covered under the proposed single-payer system.
In 2013, my wife and I were blessed with our second child. We were elated to bring another person into this world, and watch them grow. However, we soon experiences what hundreds of thousands of people before us had experienced. The healthcare provider did not cover the birth under the family plan that we had through our employer. Due to a misunderstanding, and delayed notification of the child's birth by both myself and my employer, we missed the window to allow our new child to be included in our plan. Through fighting the system, we found many of the ways the system is designed to not protect us. None of the costs for anything the baby was charged was covered. My wife went to an "out of network provider" for the delivery because we thought there was a serious condition, but it turned out not to be serious, so insurance would not cover her as if we had gone to an in-network provider driving up costs again. In the end, we were forced to file bankruptcy. We should not go broke because we have babies, or get sick, or injured. We should not have to debate whether or not we are "sick enough" to seek medical care because it may ruin us. We should not suffer in physical pain, because the pain of repaying those bills may be too high. We need a better option, and a single-payer system is that option.
The cost of medical care in America is too high. We pay for expensive insurance, which usually requires a co-pay and/or deductibles. You have to receive care in your network, or suffer penalties. After receiving care, if you we need medicine, we have a whole new set of bills to pay and worry about. This is wrong. We should be spending money on doctors, nurses, mental health specialists, dentists, and other professionals who provide services to people and improve their lives. We must invest in the development of new drugs and technologies that cure disease and alleviate pain—not wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a year on profiteering, huge executive compensation packages, and outrageous administrative costs.
Illinois has the 5th largest GDP in the United States with $820,362,000,000 coming in during 2017. To compare to another GDP around the globe, Illinois comes in just under the Netherlands’ GDP by about $5 Billion. We believe we need to expand Medicare to provide coverage for all of the citizens in Illinois. We propose we create a system of healthcare similar to that of the Netherlands. With some adjustment to our expenditures, and the ability to negotiate prices with the healthcare industry, we have an opportunity to better provide healthcare for all of our citizens in Illinois. Additionally, by finding new ways to generate income, we believe we have the opportunity to implement this system, at a low cost to the taxpayer.
Health insurance should include coverage for all types of health care. This includes, mental health, physical health, dental, and eye coverage. We should be able to go to the doctors that we are comfortable with to receive all of the care that we need. It is time we ensure that we are covering both our mental and physical health. This would be covered under the proposed single-payer system.