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-Health Care

I believe that everyone deserves access to proper medical care. Affordable health care is an issue of national importance. Over the past few years, our legislature has worked on health care reform and moved forward towards a health care system that provides health care for every Vermonter. These efforts have made Vermont one of the national leaders in this area. To improve access to health care, Catamount Health was created as a source of a more affordable, comprehensive benefits package; this is offered through the private market, but subsidized for income-eligible Vermonters. Through Catamount Health, Vermont is attempting to curb spiraling health care costs by focusing on preventive medicine and clinical treatment while avoiding increased health care premiums for individuals paying for medical insurance.

My experience in the Public Health Service and as a veterinarian has underscored my belief in the importance of preventive medicine. We need to focus attention on the causes of chronic health conditions. We know, for instance, that poor air quality causes respiratory disease and exacerbates asthma. We wittingly allow carcinogens and endocrine disruptors to enter our environment, thus increasing cancer rates and creating other serious health problems. Inactivity and obesity result in heart disease, high blood pressure, and metabolic problems. The epidemic of childhood obesity and the concomitant increase in early onset diabetes was the focus of a Surgeon General’s report. There is a lot of truth in the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." We need to encourage healthy living habits and diets, manage chronic conditions, and strive for early diagnosis of serious medical conditions.

We need to make strides in limiting health care expenses by reducing unnecessary tests and procedures, and by controlling bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork. I’d like to see us move away from a health care system that is based on increasing profits for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. The state legislature should work with our federal delegation and the new president to remove current barriers in federal law that prevent further improvements to the administration of health care in Vermont.

I am committed to making improvements to our health care system so that every Vermonter, without regard to employment, has access to health care and required prescription medications.

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