Democratic Congressional candidate Kathie Allen traveled to Price last week to address health care as well as answer other questions relating to her congressional bid.
The meeting started with an explanation that health care is complicated and she listed several reasons why the free market proposals will not work. These included:
– Health care is based on need, not price;
– Health care is not a market commodity – meaning that very seldom can you walk away from a hospital visit to go and find something else. Supply and demand doesn’t impact price in health care;
– Health care costs are difficult to budget for – You can budget for just about everything except for health care.
Problems with who sets the prices: Usually prices are set by hospitals knowing that more procedures and longer stays mean more profits. Preventive care is the best solution for keeping health care costs down for the individual.
– Better care costs less – when mixed with a preventive health care program.
“I believe in single payer universal health care,” said Allen. “With single payer the rules are the same for everyone and everyone needs basic health care services.”
Allen talked about her father being a physician, but he was also a drug addict. At one point in time Allen took her sister and ran away from home, thus forcing her father to see that he needed to make some changes.
She tied this into the opioid addiction problems in the state of Utah, and Carbon County has the highest rate of addition in the state.
Allen explained that these addiction problems are not a moral failing, but rather chemical dependencies affecting the brain that drives people to do desperate things.
“Even though there are drugs that help with addiction there are always other problems,” said Allen. “But having a father addicted to drugs – what a waste of good family time.”
Allen replies to questions from the audience included the following topics:
Medical marijuana has some good points, especially because it does not contain THC which causes the addiction. This subject needs more research. Marijuana needs to be reclassified from 1 to 2 as it does have medical benefits.
Kids’ brains are susceptible to addiction and there should be caution when giving them opioids for pain and surgery.
Internmountain Healthe Care hospitals will reduce opioid prescriptions by 40 percent next year. Quality care costs less when you emphasize cradle to grave prevention. The more healthy you are the less money you need for health care costs.
We have socialized programs for education, libraries, etc., why not for health care?
Carbon county relies on many carbon fuel related professions. These jobs could be replaced with jobs from home using high-speed internet. This area should welcome new energy jobs relating to wind, solar, cow poop to methane as a bio fuel, energy independent farms and ranches.
She wants to increase PILT (Payment in Lieu of Tax) money counties receive from the federal government for states that have over 50 percent of their acreage tied up as federal lands.
Candidates come to Carbon | Kathie Allen favors single-payer, universal health care
Kathie Allen talks with an audience member.