I believe that healthcare is a human right, and that all Americans should have access to affordable, quality healthcare. We also need to support our nurses, doctors and other professionals working to provide quality care in Riverside County.
My opponent Ken Calvert has consistently voted to make healthcare more expensive and harder to get. He repeatedly voted to eliminate protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions so his insurance industry donors could make larger profits by denying them care. He voted against capping the cost of insulin used to treat people with diabetes at $35 a month. And he voted against holding drug companies accountable for price gouging and against bringing generic drugs to market sooner at lower prices.
We need a leader who will actually fight to lower costs and increase access and quality of care for working families – not vote to increase the profits of his insurance and drug industry donors.
Healthcare Priorities:
- Expand access to affordable, quality health insurance through the Affordable Care Act;
- Lower the Medicare eligibility age and protect and expand the ability of Medicare to negotiate with drug companies over more drugs to lower costs;
- Cap insulin costs at $35 a month for all Californians and bring generic drugs to market sooner at lower costs;
- Support healthcare policies that reform our broken healthcare systems to prioritize people over price-gouging insurance corporations;
- Oppose Republican efforts to cut funding for Medicare and Medicaid and to privatize these vital programs;
- Support efforts to strengthen and expand Medicaid home- and community-based services in order to help seniors and others in need of long-term care services remain in their homes and communities;
- Support price transparency efforts to ensure healthcare providers charge fair rates for the same procedure.
We need to address racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, particularly in our lower-income Black, Latino, and Native American communities. We should expand the In Home Supportive Services program, recruit and retain more caregivers and dedicate the funding necessary to provide our seniors and disabled with in-home care. Those who opt for care in nursing homes or similar settings should get quality care, with high standards for staffing and safety.
