More McHenry County Blog

Here's Kathy Salvi's answer:

My answer:

I support several specific plans.

AHPs

I favor health plans promoted by organizations such as the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Associated Health Plans (AHPs) would allow small businesses to band together across state lines to find more affordable plans. Since most workers are employed by small businesses, this will give the small business employer the same bargaining power big businesses have in negotiating with health insurance companies.

AHPs will allow millions more Americans access to affordable health care. I would lead the effort to bring affordable health insurance to every employee of a small business through AHPs.

Legal Reform

Legal reform is another area where an impact can be made by the federal government.

I support legislation which would prohibit a plaintiff in any tort case from forum shopping. Forum shopping is where a plaintiff picks a state or jurisdiction that is pro-plaintiff. The plaintiff should be required by federal legislation to file his case where the incident occurred.

I support loser pays legislation, which provides that the loser of a medical malpractice case must pay the opponent's costs. I also support limits on punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish tortfeasors for violating important national policies. For example, if a national or international corporation knows its product will kill patients, but hides that fact from the USFDA, a federal punitive measure is appropriate, but should be limited. The limit should be $500,000.

These are all areas which need federal legislation because they involve either national policy goals, or they involve matters which can only be handled by the federal government.

I do not support, however, the federal government telling the states how to run their courts. I support states' rights. Elected representatives of the people of a state should be allowed to have control over how their state court system operates. One exception, in my opinion, is if it involves a matter which can only be accomplished by the federal government. Another is a matter involving national policy goals, such as drug safety.

For example, a single state cannot prohibit a plaintiff from filing in a different, pro-plaintiff state. Only the federal government can accomplish this.

MSAs

Expanding the successful medical savings account (MSA) program (which I use for the employees of my law firm) will help a lot.

A Medical Savings Account (MSA) is a form of individualized health care benefit. An MSA is a tax-advantaged personal account from which an individual pays their health care bills. It is usually accompanied by a high-annual-deductible ("catastrophic") insurance policy which pays 100% of health care bills above the deductible. The amount put into the MSA each year is generally less than the annual insurance deductible. MSA funds which are unspent as of the end of the year can be kept in the account to pay health care bills in future years. Or, the individual can draw from the account for non-medical reasons, but she must pay taxes if this is done.

In other words, an employer puts money, pre-tax, into an account for her employees. Catastrophic insurance is purchased from these monies, and the MSA becomes the employee's bank account for future medical expenses. In my experience, employers love it (I do, I get to deduct 100% of my contributions), employees, of course, love it , and the medical providers, who get paid immediately, love it. Let's expand it!

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.