Issue Position: Health

Issue Position

Expanding Healthcare Coverage: Because of the Affordable Health Care Act, the number of uninsured Hoosiers has dramatically decreased. Unfortunately, the Holcomb administration sought and received a waiver for a work requirement for Medicaid recipients, and attempts to destroy the ACA have not ended. Access to quality healthcare is a basic human right. That's why I support universal healthcare, so that all Hoosier families have access to quality care regardless of preexisting conditions and without work requirements.

Public Health Crises: We must work together to improve Indiana's public health system. Inadequate public health infrastructure and investment have resulted in health crises, such as HIV, syphilis, and drug epidemics, as well as widespread Hepatitis C. Public health efforts must employ robust prevention measures, including needle exchange programs.

HPV Vaccination: The best hope for most cancers is to cure them. However, we now have a tool to prevent most cervical and oral cancers. Medical studies and programs implemented elsewhere have demonstrated that HPV vaccination in the middle school years effectively prevents the development of cervical cancer, as well as many oral cancers, in adults. Instituting an effective program in Indiana is an important step in preventing these cancers, and I have made it a priority to promote public policy that would help Indiana meet the national Healthy People 2020 goal of 80% vaccination rate for boys and girls by age 15 by the year 2020.

​Women's Reproductive Health: A woman who doesn't get pregnant doesn't have to make a choice about abortion. So instead of continually adding barriers to abortion access, the aim of legislators and public health agencies should be to support the prevention of unintended pregnancies. Abstinence education is fine, but it is not enough; I support comprehensive sex education and access to affordable contraception and family planning resources. When a pregnancy is unintended, I support a woman's right to decide for herself what to do without state meddling. The choice belongs to a woman and her doctor, not to politicians mandating what the decision has to be.

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