Tom Hayhurst's Healthcare Plan

(From Dr.Hayhurst's website)

Affordable Health Care

As a practicing critical-care physician in northeast Indiana for over three decades, I have spent my entire life on the front lines of health care, helping thousands of patients and their families through illnesses and back to good health.

When I saw people in need in my community, I cofounded a free pulmonary clinic. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I took my skills to Louisiana to ease the pain. When little was being done to save the inpatient beds at our regional Veterans Administration Hospital , I joined together with my fellow veterans and formed Veterans for Better Health Care to fight for those essential services.

Working to ensure the well-being of my patients has convinced me that every citizen of our great country deserves access to affordable health care. There is no excuse for inaction on this important issue. There is so much that can be done, and done now.

I propose simple, market-based solutions, not a massive federal bureaucracy. My health care platform is grounded in compassion and common sense.

When I am in the U.S. Congress, I will:

• Actively support federal government negotiation with drug companies to secure the highest-quality, lowest-cost medications for our over 41 million seniors on Medicare; too many forced to the make the unthinkable choice between their food and medicines.

• Champion laws supporting the importation of medications, protected by all appropriate Federal Drug Administration safeguards, from other countries.

• Promote plans allowing millions of working people to pool their buying power and gain access to the highest-quality, lowest-cost health care available.

• Advocate for the automatic enrollment of children of eligible, needy families in government-supported health insurance programs.

• Strive to guarantee that our veterans, those who put themselves on the line for freedom's sake, receive the same kind of medical care offered to any member of Congress – nothing less will do.

• Lead an investigation into the runaway costs associated with prescription drug advertising, so that more resources can be put into direct patient care.
Preserving life, sustaining it, bettering has been my calling. It's why I'm running for Congress. It's why I'm resolved that every citizen must have access to affordable health care.