What is the greatest health care challenge facing Maryland today, and how do you plan to address it?
The greatest health care challenge facing Maryland are COVID, mental health challenges pre and post (current) COVID, cancer and women's rights to determine their own health outcomes. I will address them by engaging both the healthcare professionals and the impacted demographics on past responses and their viabilities as well as what to look forward to in the future.
Maryland’s hospitals operate under a unique contract with the federal government that promotes community, equity, and value. It also contributes significantly to Maryland's economy. How do you plan to support the continued success of the Maryland Model?
As the founder and president of a reentry 6 year running reentry program myself, we have such beliefs and partnerships built into our own model and have been a foundational model and partner with many of the organizations across the city having trained the safe streets individual that spoke in the video that is highlighted in the embed.
Maryland is experiencing a shortage of health care practitioners, especially nurses, that we project will worsen in the years ahead. How do you plan to address the immediate crisis and what will you do to make sure we have a robust and sustainable health care workforce pipeline?
The general assembly has not had enough perspectives and voices involved in the discussions of these issues. I founded a reentry program as a returning citizen myself with a lived reentry experience. Healthcare from the perspective of reentry takes on a different dynamic, but it is possibly the most prevalent dynamic in the city which has little if any actual representation in the General Assembly. The voices are not voiceless, but they certainly do not have relatable representation bringing the issues of reentry such as expungement and shielding to the forefront as I have since 2013. Many of the Maryland specific issues regarding work force shortages are due to the confusing expungement provisions currently in place. There are many Maryland residents who do not have expungement available to them that they would if they were residents of other states with the very same backgrounds but there are absolutely solutions. One of which I initiated advocacy for in 2014 and eventually passed in 2018 which is non violent felony expungement. The first felony expungement provision in the history of the state of Maryland. The only impediment now to its increased effectiveness is the Unit Rule which legislators are not advancing.
How would you increase availability of and access to health care for Marylanders?
The American Medical Association recommends 5 ways to improve access to health care:
1. Ensure adequate funding of the Children's Health Insurance Program and retain Medicaid expansion along with implemented expansion.
2. Stabilize individual marketplaces and retain Affordable Care Act market reforms.
3. Address physician shortages. Grow the clinical workforce by expanding the number of available graduate medical education residency slots, expand medical school loan forgiveness programs, and remove barriers to physician immigration for foreign-trained physicians to practice in the US.
4. Telehealth and remote patient monitoring.
5. Increase efficiency of the existing workforce by instituting common sense medical liability reforms and reducing government and insurance industry regulatory burdens-such as prior authorization that detract from patient care and increase costs.
These are the suggestions of the AMA on the subject.
What policies will you pursue to improve health for all Marylanders? Please also consider the social determinants of health?
The Maryland State Archives offers the suggestions of the work group on health in all policies. The fact that the conversation has been studied, I would rely on dialogue with advocates and professionals to determine appropriate path forward and what specific policies would best accomplish the stated goal.
How do you plan to address consumers' growing exposure to health care costs, such as high deductible health plans and rising prescription drug prices in Maryland?
With a number of offerings already in discussion, Maryland is advancing monthly caps on drug costs and exploring standardized benefit designs.
Maryland’s worsening medical liability climate, as noted in a recent independent report, threatens access to, and affordability of, health care services in Maryland. Plaintiffs’ attorneys typically take 40% of a medical malpractice judgment. Do you support limiting attorneys’ fees so that the affected individuals can receive more of their settlement or judgment? What additional reforms would you support that balance supporting individuals and families harmed by medical malpractice with ensuring continued access to services in a community?
I am in support of limiting attorneys fees and increasing patient amounts recovered. I would rely on dialogue with advocates and colleagues to pursue the best way forward .
What are your priorities should you be elected, not confined to health care?
One of my specific priorities is the health care of our CDL labor force, truckers in particular. Some of the most severe health issues faced by our most critical workforce are directly related to the nature of the work that they perform. The extended sitting for drivers regional and OTR leads to poor cardiovascular health, circulatory issues and both leading to increased heart, cholesterol and other related issues resultant from lack of exercise and obesity.