Steve Ivester on Healthcare

The US spends more per person on healthcare than any other nation, yet we no longer have the best care.  Costs are soaring.  My wife and I have a $2,500 deductible, no-serious-preconditions health insurance policy, and our premium is still over $1,000 per month—that’s over $12,000 per year, and it doesn’t cover all vision care, all prescriptions, or any dental care.

Many of our people go without any healthcare, and that number is increasing dramatically.  Not only can individuals and families no longer afford the premiums, but many companies (and that number continues to grow) have dropped their healthcare benefits in order to be “more competitive.”

This fall, I have talked to literally thousands of Tenth District citizens.  All that I have talked to agree that our healthcare funding system has major problems.  Even those who fear “Socialized Medicine” agree that something innovative is needed.  For example, I have met many two-parent, two-child families with two jobs who say they cannot find affordable healthcare.  I believe we need to move to some form of Universal Health Care.

I am also concerned about the level of discrimination against older workers and workers with even minor pre-existing conditions (themselves or within their family).  Potential effects on Health Group Rates often drive hiring decisions because claims ultimately affect the bottom line, and businessmen know it.  Folks so excluded may be likely to seek disability or early retirement even though they would prefer to work.  Taken together, this can have significant impact on our federal budget.  Further, as we move towards genetic testing to detect inherited susceptibilities to various diseases (for increased monitoring and life saving "early treatments"), this could become a bigger problem.  These issues must be addressed when developing new healthcare legislation.  We risk having people becoming unemployable who have absolutely nothing wrong with them.  A healthier nation will be a more prosperous nation--and a more respected nation--in the World Community.

• Today we are reaching a point where Healthcare Insurance is available only to the wealthy and to the healthy young (who happen to work for certain employers).  I will fight for better healthcare for everyone in this country.  Too much of our healthcare dollars now goes for overhead - this must be reduced.  I will fight for a better and more equitable system than what we now have.  I will particularly fight to protect the health of our children and young mothers.

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