Issues

Sandy’s Solutions for Real Healthcare Reform

Floridians—and Americans—deserve a common-sense approach to healthcare reform, not a costly government takeover of our nation’s health care system. Sandy’s solutions for healthcare includes lowering health care premiums for families and small businesses, increasing access to affordable, high-quality care, and promoting healthier lifestyles – without adding to the crushing debt Washington has placed on our families, children and grandchildren. Following are key elements of what Sandy supports:

• Lowering health care premiums. We need lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing Americans’ number-one priority for health care reform.
• Establishing Universal Access Programs to guarantee access to affordable health care for those with pre-existing conditions. It’s time to create Universal Access Programs that expand and reform high-risk pools and reinsurance programs to guarantee that all Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses, have access to affordable care – while lowering costs for all Americans.
• Ending junk lawsuits. We must end costly junk lawsuits and curb defensive medicine by enacting medical liability reforms modeled after successful state laws such as those in Texas.
• Prevent insurers from unjustly canceling a policy. We need a plan that prohibits an insurer from unjustly canceling a policy.
• Encouraging Small Business Health Plans. We must give small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as corporations and labor unions do.
• Allowing Americans who purchase their own insurance the ability to deduct the premiums from their federal income taxes just like businesses are currently able to do.
• Encouraging innovative state programs. It’s time to reward innovation by providing incentive payments to states that reduce premiums and the number of uninsured.
• Allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines. I support allowing Americans to shop for coverage from coast to coast by allowing Americans living in one state to purchase insurance in another.
• Promoting healthier lifestyles. Any good healthcare plan should include prevention & wellness by giving employers greater flexibility to financially reward employees who adopt healthier lifestyles.
• Enhancing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). I support new incentives to save for current and future health care needs by allowing qualified participants to use HSA funds to pay premiums for high deductible health insurance.
• Allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ policies. We should encourage the coverage of young adults on their parents’ insurance through age 25.