LET'S FIX OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM NOW!

I believe that our state government has the obligation and the responsibility to provide access to affordable, efficient and effective health care for all the citizens and residents of Connecticut.  Instead, this legislature has promulgated and enforced policies designed to maximize profit, orchestrated by  the pharmaceutical industry, medical insurance industry and the American Medical Association, and have callously and coldheartedly left a substantial minority of our population without access to health care.  Not only have we all experienced double-digit increases in costs for health insurance for the last three years, but 10.5% of our Connecticut population, mostly hourly workers and their families, lack health insurance at all.  The result is delayed access to health care, poorer health, and increased costs when health care is accessed.  Over 100 million dollars are spent in avoidable hospitalizations in Connecticut as a result of lack of health insurance.  This cost is commonly passed on to all of us in the form of increased fees and taxes because health care debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the state.

The Pharmaceutical Industry has been economically gouging the public through exorbitant pricing on their products. They claim that these prices are necessary to maintain research on new products.  However, more money is spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing than research, and the pharmaceutical industry has the highest return on investment of any industry.  We need to decrease the cost of prescription medications by allowing the re-importation of medications from Canada or by allowing the state to bulk purchase medications for the citizens of our state, just as it does now for our Veterans and Medicaid recipients.  Either way, the result would be savings in the range of 40 to 60%.  If elected to the State Senate I will submit legislation to enable this to occur.

The for-profit Medical Insurance Industry is grossly inefficient and ineffective relative to the not-for-profit and public medical insurers. Not only are for-profit HMOs ineffective on all 16 quality of care indicators relative to not-for-profit HMOs, but the administrative expenses are so much higher that replacing our for-profit system with a not-for-profit system would save enough money to provide health insurance for all of the uninsured in our state without spending additional money.  However, replacing our public-private system with a Canadian-style system is a highly controversial step that would require further education of our population before acceptance.  The state of Maine has recently enacted a pay-or-play approach that seeks to have all employers offer health insurance or pay into a state fund that would provide low cost health insurance for all workers not covered by this plan.  This too deserves our serious consideration.  Thus, if elected State Senator, I will seek to enact legislation to commit our state to universal health insurance by the year 2007 and create the formation of a blue ribbon commission to evaluate the best means to obtain universal health insurance, whether a Canadian-style system or a Maine-style pay-or-play system.  We must assure affordable health insurance for all Connecticut residents as soon as possible.  That is my commitment to you.

Finally, the American Medical Association has restricted the number of health care professionals and systematically undercut the use of naturopathic medications to treat disease.  Thus, if elected, I will write legislation to establish an additional medical school in the state to increase the number of medical students and train these future medical practitioners in allopathic, homeopathic, and naturopathic means to prevent and treat medical illness in addition to our current approach.

Let's assure the health of our Connecticut population by assuring access to affordable and effective health care for all Connecticut citizens and residents.  That is my pledge to you.