Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Issue Position: Health Care

Health Care
While I opposed the partisan health care reform bills passed by the House of
Representatives and United States Senate, I share a common belief that reform is
necessary. Rather than expand government-run insurance, raise taxes, cut
Medicare, and increase the cost of premiums, I support a variety of
step-by-step, common sense reforms to make the private insurance market more
competitive and to ensure that individuals and families have choices when it
comes to their health care.

Pre-existing Conditions
I support finding affordable options for the uninsured or those who have been priced out of the insurance market. I support expanding and reforming high-risk pools and reinsurance programs to help all Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses, have access to affordable care.

Small Business Health Plans
I hear from many small business owners in South Dakota who want to provide quality health care coverage for their employees, but often cannot afford the high cost of premiums. South Dakota has nearly 73,000 small businesses and a large portion of our state's uninsured population work for small businesses. I support creating Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs), which allow individuals
and small businesses to band together to purchase more affordable health insurance for their employees. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, SBHPs would expand health care coverage to approximately 750,000 employees of small businesses who are currently uninsured.

Reform Medical Liability Laws
I support reforming medical liability laws that protect doctors from frivolous lawsuits so they can stop practicing defensive medicine in order to avoid lawsuits and focus on what is best for patients. I support comprehensive medical liability reform that will lower the cost of health care for all South Dakota families.

Reform Health Insurance Regulations
I am in favor of reforming health insurance regulations and allowing individuals and companies to purchase insurance across state lines. This would provide consumers in South Dakota with a greater number of options in insurance plans and would increase competition in the insurance industry. Additionally, I support providing state incentives to pursue state-based reforms to their
insurance markets.

Access to Lower Cost Generics
While our nation continues to be the world leader in life-saving medications, American consumers are paying the world's highest costs. I support changing the law to allow prescription drug importation, a policy that would permit all consumers, pharmacies, and wholesalers to purchase affordable
pharmaceuticals safely from FDA-approved facilities overseas. Today, this common sense practice is permitted only for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Current Health Care Programs
I believe it is imperative that we address the waste, fraud, and abuse that currently plague the Medicare and Medicaid system. I support combating fraud in our health programs and ensuring their sustainability before expanding them, or creating a new government-run program that will simply add to the
problem. Medicare alone has over $60 billion in losses sustained by taxpayers each year due to fraud.

Enhance Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
I support creating incentives that will support people saving for current and future health care needs by allowing participants to use HSA funds to pay premiums for high deductable health insurance. HSAs are proven to encourage more cost-conscious spending.

Tele-health
As a member of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, I support initiatives that will strengthen our rural health care infrastructure. Tele-health is innovative technology that can provide real-time information to a health provider from a patient hundreds of miles away by using video-conferencing and other technologies. This technology could help home health agencies provide home-monitoring equipment to patients in order to improve care and allow seniors more flexibility to remain at home. In 2009, I sponsored S. 457, the Fostering Independence through Technology Act. If enacted, this legislation would expand the use of tele-health in states like South Dakota.

Focus on Wellness and Prevention
I believe we must change our focus to wellness and prevention. Helping people lead healthier lives is a critical part of controlling the cost of health care for everyone, not just the unhealthy. I support reforms that will make it easier for employers, insurers, and patients to take action to control the chronic disease and obesity epidemic in our country through incentives that encourage healthier behavior and participation in wellness programs.

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