Health Care
More Options and Choices Resulting in Increased Access and Affordability for New Mexicans
While much attention has been given to federal legislation regarding health care, we need to focus our efforts here at home, in New Mexico. Big government is not the solution to our health care problems. However, we do need to reform the system with a focus on lowering the cost of health care to make it more affordable for thousands of New Mexican families, while reducing the rolls of the uninsured.
Too many doctors are being forced to practice defensive medicine, which is driving up health care costs. As governor, I will work to pass tort reform legislation to reduce the number of junk lawsuits which benefit trial lawyers and hurt virtually everyone else. Tort reform will help reduce the cost of health care and improve the quality of care received by patients.
I believe that individuals need to be empowered to take responsibility for their own health care. We need to provide better general wellness information, comparative information on health plans so people can choose the policy that best meets their needs and focus on prevention.
One of the biggest challenges the next administration will face is over Medicaid. This is one of the fastest growing parts of our budget, and with shrinking state revenues and more Washington, D.C. mandates, we will have to confront some hard realities head on. Most importantly, I believe we need to strengthen and support our New MexiKids programs so children have the care they need and deserve. Our Medicaid dollars have been spread thin and we need to re-focus on core priorities, such as protecting our children, while rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the system.
I also support an incentives-based approach to health care reform as opposed to government requirements. I support providing businesses in New Mexico with tax credits to help extend coverage to their employees, and individual tax credits for those who choose to purchase their own coverage. Small businesses should also be able to band together to enjoy the same purchasing power of the larger companies, and allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines injecting increased competition into the system resulting in better options and lower costs.
