What is the greatest health care challenge facing Maryland today, and how do you plan to address it?
Accessiblity to affordable health insurance. In the past, I introduced legislation that would have authorized the Maryland Health Care Exchange to utilize any excess revenues to fund a special insurance pool dedicated to small businesses to help lower the cost of their health insurance. In essence, create a special insurance pool for small businesses.
Workforce shortages are an enormous challenge confronting our health care system. I will support all forms of workforce training for health care professionals and work to help attract new recruits to our health care workforce.
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?
I will continue to support efforts to enhance coordination of care and cooridnation of care for our societal health care priorities. Specifically, efforts to implement and carry out a community based health care delivery model, which will benefit many of our rural communities. Telehealth has proven to be a significant benefit to many citizens and I will embrace efforts to expand the use of telehealth and other technologies.
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?
Our health care workforce pipeline depends on affordable and accessible workforce training at all levels. Ensuring these programs are supported through colleges and universities is critical. I intend to support funding for health care workforce training. In addition, I intend to help promote the many benefits of working in health care to potential candidates by encouraging them to consider a career in health care. In addition, I will support efforts to improve the workplace environment for our health care workers.
How would you increase availability of and access to health care for Marylanders?
Expanding eligibility for various health insurance pools to help ensure that affordable health care is available to our citizens. The repeated message I receive from citizens is that health insurance is not affordable - expanding pools can help lower the cost of health insurance for many citizens.
What policies will you pursue to improve health for all Marylanders? Please also consider the social determinants of health?
I will pursue enhancing our efforts to implement community based health care delivery. By deploying health care resources into the community, treatment can be provided earlier and provided to more citizens, thereby lowering longterm costs and improving accessibility.
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?
High deductible plans are linked to the cost of health care, and again, by expanding insurance pools, the cost of insurance can be reduced and the benefits can be increased because of the larger size of these insurance pools. Prescription drug prices are a signficant challenge and feel very strongly that prescription drug transparency tools would provide consumers with necessary information to help manage the costs of their prescription drugs. In the past, I have also supported legislation to cap the cost of certain drugs, but only in limited circumstances.
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 support limiting attorneys fees for medical malpractice lawsuits and liability caps. I would support an option for alternative administrative dispute resolution to expedite and ease the process of accounting for any harmful errors.
I would also support efforts to help control the costs malpractice insurance for medical professionals.
What are your priorities should you be elected, not confined to health care?
First and foremost, my top priority will be the construction of a new hospital in Easton, Maryland. This is a long awaited investment in our health care delivery system and is desperately needed. This project has been debated, has actually been funded in part but that funding was rescinded, and is linked to various other health care infrastructure projects on the Eastern Shore that are now completed. A new hospital in Easton will revolutionize care in our area and attract a strong workforce.
Another priority will be to focus on specific areas of care, such as: mental health, labor and delivery, and our aging community.
Finally, addressing the reimbursement issue for mental health providers is a top priority.